tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18127526494265802632024-03-04T23:44:48.250-08:00Our life and ministry togetherAlan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-91987287248239051812022-03-15T10:32:00.000-07:002022-03-15T10:32:23.823-07:00What a long, hard road it's been. Yet blessing upon blessing overflows.<p>Do you know there comes a time when you are so old you completely forgot you ever wrote a blog? Ha! Somehow I had a link to my blog up on my bookmarks bar and I accidentally clicked it and found dozens and dozens of entries over a ten year period and then nothing from the last five years. Wow. How our lives get complicated and busy and overrun with stuff and we just forget. </p><p>So I'm writing this update pretty much for myself but if anyone is still out there then it's for you too. </p><p>The last five years. Well, this is it in a nutshell...</p><p>Came home in June of 2016. Stayed at the Snow Mill Guest House for a month before returning to our home in Athens that had been rented the past 7 years. Spent some time fixing things up, working for the Great Exchange and other volunteer organizations or ministries. Started all the paperwork for fostering, attended impact training, got finger printed and took first aid courses. Did tons of training. </p><p>In March of 2017 Alan started his own business, "Rathbone Home Services" as a handyman, do it all sort'of business. Our goal was to support our supporters that had so faithfully and diligently helped us when we were missionaries and I prayed we would never have to advertise Alan's services to the general public. Due to their faithfulness and Alan's hard work and meticulous attention to getting everything just right for his customers the business took off well and God has blessed it.</p><p>Fast forward five years. We just got about a 5 minute breather between the dreaded Covid pandemic and WWIII. Russia is currently bearing down impossibly hard on the sovereign nation of Ukraine. The world has implemented sanctions on Putin and his cronies but hundreds of thousands of innocents are being killed to satisfy Putin's one man glory seeking mission. He wants the old Soviet Union back and he doesn't care who he kills to get it. The stock market has plummeted. The country is more divided than ever and the churches are lean to empty. It used to be that people would flock to churches during times of sickness and war but not anymore. I have to wonder why that is. I mean we can see the devil is crazy busy at his work given he is in his last days but how can people survive in this day and time without any hope? Without any community or instruction or life giving accountability and praise to the King of Kings? He's the only one that can fix this mess our world is in, the mess our hearts are in. </p><p>Alan's work has eased off due to covid and the war but like when God provided for Joseph and all of Egypt with 7 years of plenty, so too has God provided above and beyond what we need to see us through this time of famine. </p><p>In October of 2017 we took in our first foster sibling group which literally kicked our butt's. The last day of May (incidentally, Chloe's 7th birthday), we joyfully reunited them with their mom who had become like a daughter to me. Unfortunately it took over a year to realize that things were not nearly as good as we had hoped and we had allowed the kids to reenter her life WAY too soon. She was not off the drugs and was desperate to attach herself to any man that would take her and so the life of the kids went from hopeful to disaster in three short years. They missed more school than they attended, never went to the doctor or dentist after leaving us, were always left with their grandma who herself needed rehab and they did without food and housing and attention for way too long before God sent a judge to remove them from the bench again last May. They returned back to us and on the 21st of this month will have been with us for the second time another 10 months. </p><p>I am 51 one now and Alan is 58 and every day we wonder what in the world we were thinking becoming foster parents. It is absolutely NOT for the faint at heart but we have learned from painful experience that God is greater than all and any of our shortcomings and He will provide for all our needs according to HIS riches in Heaven. Fostering has taught us so much about the sinfulness of our own hearts. You can read about that in the bible but until you are really taken out of your comfort zone with children from trauma and their drug addicted parents, you never really realize how bad your own heart is. Fostering like nothing else brought all of that to the surface for us. So if you really don't want to learn patience and forgiveness and self control and unselfishness than definitely DO not fill out the application to foster because one way or another God will teach you those things whether you really want to learn them or not. </p><p>Of course it's not all bad. We are doing something for eternity that actually matters. Not many people chasing the mighty paycheck can say that. I know it because I chased the mighty paycheck at Microsoft and Expedia and in the end it left me empty. I did meet some great people and have some good stories to tell but it wasn't kingdom work and so it was always found lacking. </p><p>So here we are. 10 months into our second time fostering these four precious kids. We love them and they drive us nuts. We want to give them the world and we want them to learn to go after it themselves and really succeed on their own merits. No matter what the bio mom has done to us in the past I still love her and still want the very best for her and I pray God will keep his hand on this family for forever. I pray they will all give their lives to Jesus and become who God has called them to be and I pray this world will be just a little bit kinder to them than before so they will survive. It is not an easy time in the world to be separated from your kids and trying to restart your life but if God wants it he will do it.</p><p>God willing in July we will head back to England to see Alan's mom and sister and our friends. We also have a small cruise planned to see the fjord's of Norway for my 50th since our desired trip last year was impossible due to covid. We made a trip together as a family to New Zealand back in 2018 with Teen Missions and met some really great teenagers - some of which are engaged or married and going on to missions full time in the next year. It's great to see God continue to work in their lives.</p><p>My mom has suffered from Alzheimer's for the past 12 years but she fell in December of 2018 and again in January of 2019 and never recovered. She has now been bed-ridden for the past three years and two months. Absolutely heart breaking sadness and depression has overwhelmed our family during this time and yet we just keep going. One day, one week, one month at a time. </p><p>My dad continues his teaching on Monday nights to his faithful friends, attending his book club and tending to both his garden and his grandchildren. Moms illness has of course been the most difficult for him and some days I'm sure he wonders how he can go on without her. They have always been so in love.</p><p>Chloe is as precious as ever. She's a 5th grader at Westminster, moved from Timothy Road Elementary due to our lack of confidence in the leadership in the Clarke county school district during Covid. We also wanted her to have a biblically based education, be really pushed academically to learn cursive writing and Latin and to do more memory work and Westminster has not disappointed. She has participated in art competitions, safety patrol, quiz bowl, 4H and has had good success at each. Outside of school she has taken a series of gymnastics and horseback riding classes, some tennis, weekly piano, has participated in the swim team each summer and has been the best big sister to our foster kids imaginable. In the past five years we've had our current set of kids twice, then two single boys one right after the other, then a brother sister pair and another sibling pair but that was just for respite. We remember each child with such fondness and Chloe has made special memories with them all. </p><p>We pray God will watch over them and their families while they are not with us and may God watch over us all as the current world events swirl about us.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-44038784443648922452017-05-04T07:53:00.000-07:002017-05-04T07:53:00.458-07:00We have killed him you and I - foster care, homelessness and putting things rightI woke today thinking about May being the national foster care month. <br />
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As most of you know, our family is marching toward the end goal of adopting from the foster care system. And while we would love to take in every child that doesn't have a family capable or ready to look after them we can certainly recognize this as an impossibility. Still, our adopting one or two feels like so little when we hear numbers like nearly 500,000 children in America were in the foster care system at one time in 2016. <br />
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500,000!?!<br />
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Where do numbers like this come from and is our job really just to deal with the increasing number of children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned or is there something more?<br />
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Should we focus on making their lives in foster care better or the transition from home to home easier? Organizations like Together we rise, CASA, Downtown Ministries and Big Brother Big Sister help there<br />
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Should we foster or adopt them? Agencies like DFCS, Bethany Child Services, All God's Children, Lifeline or Covenant Care can assist.<br />
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What about supporting the families doing the fostering? Chosen for Life and Promise686 have tried to address this in our area.<br />
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But even with all of this, doesn't there have to be something more? Who is driving to the core of why this crisis exists to begin with? <br />
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I have been privileged to work with the homeless population for more than eight years in Chicago, Wales and here in Athens and every week I hear stories and struggle to truly help the clients that come in. They are there in great part to have their daily needs met and while giving food, clothing, showers and shelter is a good thing - what I've realized over the years is that like me, most need a complete overhaul down deep within them. They've lost hope, given up and they struggle to think or plan clearly. They don't follow advice about anything beyond today, they refuse to keep appointments or commitments. They are addicted to anything that will numb their existence and make life a bit easier to cope with and unfortunately too many have been through so much they have lost touch with reality completely. It can be very discouraging and frustrating.<br />
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What amazes me though is sometimes when I feel this way I open my devotional or my bible and God has something specific to say to me about that very thing. <br />
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Today in my Apologetics 101 devotional I read:<br />
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"For more than fiteen years, British physician and psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple cared for the poorest of the poor in London's slums. He observed in the process that the government's attempts to show compassion to the poor actually worsened their situations. Drunkenness, promiscuity, gluttony and abuse were common, along with all the health consequences you might expect from such lifestyles. As Dalrymple tried to heal people's wounds, he asked, "Why do you live like this?" Stunningly, he concluded that these vulnerable individuals had simple embraced-- and practiced- the ideas about gender, sexual liberation, and meaning that were taught in theories at top universities and in the media. In his book <i>Life at the Bottom, </i>Dalrymple turns his acerbic wit on twentieth-century intellectuals who "sought to free our sexual relations of all social, contractual, or moral obligations and meaning whatsoever, so that henceforth only raw sexual desire itself would count in our decision making." Dalrymple shows that the results of adopting these ideas "both literally and wholesale" are horrifying. "If anyone wants to see what sexual relations are like, freed of contractual and social obligations, let him look at the chaos of the personal lives of the members of the underclass... Here are abortions procured by abdominal kung fu; children who have children, in numbers unknown before the advent of chemical contraception and sex education; women abandoned by the father of their child<br /> a month before or a month after delivery; insensate jealousy, the reverse of the coin of general promiscuity, that results in the most hideous oppression and violence, serial stepfatherhood that leads to sexual and physical abuse of children on a mass scale, and every kind of loosening of the distinction between the sexual permissible and the impermissible." </div>
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Around the world, culture after culture including our own has abandoned God and decided they know a better way. Nietzsche in his book, "The Gay Science" writes the often quoted phrase of, "We have killed him - you and I" (1). Not that he believed there was a God that we actually killed but that by killing the idea of God the majority would come in great part to a society of meaninglessness and despair. Today we live relativistic lives where what is good for you is good for you and what is good for me is good for me. Say anything else and you are guilty of the worst crimes. The moral authority that determines what is right and wrong has been silenced and what has resulted are statistics like these - 500,000+ children waiting for their parents to love, care and take responsibility for them again. </div>
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So as Christians, as members of the human race, what are we to do? Stop volunteering, stop giving, stop speaking out? Are we to stop trying to house and feed and encourage and love on these children that have been neglected? Are we to abandon this world as hopeless, Godless and not worth our trouble? Are we to hide away behind our books, jobs, TV's or phones trying to make everyone believe that at least in our homes everything is beautiful and fulfilling and life giving? </div>
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No, I don't think so. </div>
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I think first and foremost we get on our faces before the King of Kings and we plead and intercede for this world around us. We need to pray for our children, our husbands and our families - for protection, for kindness and for love to reign supreme. We need to pray for our churches that the masks would come off so that people could be real with each other about just how broken and in need of a Savior we truly are. We need to pray for those who aren't broken about their sins that God would bring them to a place of repentance and healing and we need to pray for our communities that real change would come from an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Finally we need to do everything we can to be <span style="font-family: inherit;">the hands and feet of Jesus to a world that desperately needs Him up until the day He calls us home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you will pray and read your bible, God will show you what this means for you but as C.S. Lewis reminds us, our job is not to shy away. Lewis says, "<span style="background-color: white;">Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God made the world—that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colours and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God ‘made up out of His head’ as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again."(2)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">May we boldly proclaim the great news. He is not dead, you have not killed him. He is alive and He brings hope and peace and joy in the midst of sorrow to all who seek Him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #404041; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 13.8px;">(1) Friedrich Nietzsche, </span><em style="color: #404041; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 13.8px;">The Gay Science</em><span style="color: #404041; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 13.8px;"> (New York: Vintage, 1974), 181-182.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #404041; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 13.8px;">(2) </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">C.S. Lewis, </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Mere-Christianity-Pb-C-Lewis/dp/0060652926/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288616922&sr=1-1" style="color: #663208; text-decoration-line: none;">Mere Christianity</a></i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> (1952; Harper Collins: 2001) 36-38.</span></div>
Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-34923574922951908072016-10-19T05:52:00.000-07:002016-10-19T05:52:14.421-07:00A well traveled, experienced but lonely lifeMoving back to Georgia has been my dream since I moved away seven and a half years ago to marry my now husband, Alan. A bit ironic as when I was in High School the very LAST thing I wanted was to live in Georgia. I wanted to see the world, have adventures, be successful and accomplish my dreams. I enjoyed growing up here, loved my family and by all accounts had lots of friends through school but over the years I managed to lose touch with almost all of them. Now that I'm back in the area, I realize that there were only a couple that I stuck with and that stuck with me during all those years away. This is not to make anyone feel bad or for people to pity me. I say this only because I am realizing a few things as I get older. <br />
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First - I have had a great life. Not always easy nor what I would have wanted but a great one nevertheless. Second - I have lived in a lot of places and had three pretty succesful careers. Third - I have lived in four different countries and away from Georgia longer than I have lived here. And finally, I have come away from it all (again, family aside) with hardly any close friends. Oddly I hardly ever felt lonely and my Facebook says I have over 400 friends so how can this be?<br />
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Well, I often ask myself that same question. But when I look closer at the list, each and every person was with me during a special season in my life. Maybe they came to see us in Germany on a team or we were a part of Teen Missions together. I worked with a few in Wales or in Seattle, New York or Chicago. We may have grown up together, gone to college or grad school or been part of a volunteer organization at the same time. Lots were close to me or were family during my first marriage and others got close when my marriage ended. Going to church helped me make friends in Seattle, Birkenhead, Heidelberg and Watkinsville and a great majority are my immediate and extended family. I sometimes contemplate de-friending those whom I haven't spoken to in years (or whom haven't spoken to me), but in a way, those "friends" are for me now more good memories than they are active presences in my life. They help me recall each piece of my journey and what God has brought me through and for that I am thankful. <br />
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Still, something for me is missing. <br />
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The New Yorker article I just read calls them "intimates". Those who call you up just to say, "let's go for lunch" or "how are you really?" or "want to come hang out?" And other than my immediate family I can think of only three or four people that have fallen into this category for me over the years and because of distance, only a couple remain. This in a way makes me sad. You see, a couple of months ago a girl I grew up with but wasn't close to, died. She was a couple of years older than me and had many very close friends who have stood by her since she was a girl. Mostly they lived around her here in Watkinsville or Athens all these years and they continued their friendship until she passed. Her funeral was very well attended. She was loved. <br />
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I think it's hard to go through something like that or even hear about it and not think about your own life, your own health and wonder how many more years God will give you on the earth. Death of someone you knew always makes you value your life more and want to make the most of every day. So I began to take toll of my life and ask myself, "do I have regrets?" (well yes, many) "What would I change if I could?" (not much, even the regrets) "Is it too late for me to have close friends?" and "Would I even have the time it takes to really foster them?".<br />
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Maybe you've asked these questions or maybe you're too young to give them a second thought. But I have learned, mostly the hard way, that the choices we make have lasting consequences. I chose to move away and to move often and I saw a lot of the world in doing so. I experienced things and places that most won't but I also missed out on a lot - things I enjoy like the yearly fall festivals and family get togethers, the Georgia football games and the various reunions. I missed more weddings and funerals than I attended. And in the end I missed out on having really deep, lasting friendships that could see you through decline and even death. If notice of my upcoming High School reunion tells me anything it is that I have been away a very long time because I hardly remember anyone at all. <br />
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So what about you? Did you also have a well traveled and experienced but lonely life or is it quite the opposite? I'd love to hear your thoughts.<br />
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<br />Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-9344582019812146382016-07-02T17:07:00.001-07:002016-07-02T17:07:36.612-07:00A quick update from England... Brexit, UEFA and usI've found myself questioning the wisdom of visiting England in June after having to turn on the heat to keep warm and watching it rain nearly every day since we arrived. I packed shorts and Alan didn't bring a jacket or any long sleeve shirts so we feel a bit foolish in hindsight. Still, the time so far has been rich and full of good memories. <br />
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So far we've focused on being with Alan's mum and family, hosting a birthday party for Chloe with all her aunts, uncles and cousins and having a couple of fun day outs exploring England and Wales. We attended a debrief with Pioneers in Bawtry and have met with nearly all of our supporters around the area. We got to visit with the pastor and see lots of our friends at our old sending church in Birkenhead and we've enjoyed attending church with Margaret in Chester each week at the old Queen's Street location where Alan was a former member. <br />
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God has truly provided for us and guided our steps in this move. We've met with friends who have fostered here in England and gotten some good advice from them. When asked about what exactly our jobs will be when we get home we have said we believe it to be multi-faceted at least for the foreseeable. These things will be our focus:<br />
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<li>Continue to be good parents to Chloe, get her registered into kindergarten and get involved in ministry with her school, our neighborhood, church and community.</li>
<li>Serve on staff with the Great Exchange through a secondment agreement with Pioneers for a period of two years. Our focus will be to engage in gospel conversations with students in Universities across the southeast through the use of spiritual background surveys. </li>
<li>Continue to research and complete the home study required to adopt from the foster care system.</li>
<li>Convert the loft space in our home into at least one more bedroom and bath for the child(ren) we hope to adopt</li>
<li>Build a part-time maitenance/construction business for Alan to help fund extra costs associated with our adoption</li>
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What else God has planned beyond all of this is unclear but we are eager to get home and get started.<br />
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So what else? <br />
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Well, this last week our downtime included debating the Brexit "leave" vote and trying to decifer what it will mean for us if we ever want to return to Europe and watching a historic Wales football team and the more experienced German team reach the Semi-finals in the UEFA cup. We look forward to attending Bex and Josch's wedding in just a few days and meeting up with our team and housegroup members from Germany before flying out on the 12th to the states. <br />
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Here are some pictures of our visit thus far...<br />
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<br />
In other news...<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>After nine months of waiting Nicole has finally been granted her residence visa for Germany. We are thankful that she can continue in ministry in Germany and are so appreciative to those of you who have prayed with us for this. </li>
<li>Peter and Tosca Nathan are spending two months in Australia before flying to Germany to lead the team as of August the 6th. Their initial focus will be on language learning and on refugees.</li>
<li>An intern from Oxford University will join the team in September. She will live in the loft with Nicole and wants to work primarily with young people in the church to improve her German and with refugees.</li>
<li>Many have asked about our needs for adopting and moving home. Yes, we have experienced lots of extra costs from visa expenses to shipping charges already. We will need to buy some second-hand furniture for our home when we return and we'll need to do some renovations and repairs on the house after having it rented for the last seven years. We believe on initial estimates that the cost of converting the loft into another bedroom and bath will be at least $10,000 even with Alan doing 95% of the labor. Finally, we believe our costs for the actual adoption will be minimal in comparison to an International or domestic infant adoption yet we do anticipate some costs associated. If you would like to help with any of these extra expenses, you can send monthly or one-time gifts to Pioneers on our behalf using our names and account number: 136050</li>
</ul>
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Thank you for standing with us! - Mary, Alan and Chloe</div>
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<br />Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-20377708086875495592016-04-25T04:22:00.002-07:002016-04-25T04:22:50.230-07:00We were made for another world...<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.04px; margin-bottom: 1.35em;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.72px;">"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." C. S. Lewis</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.72px;">I look around the main train station in Heidelberg and I snap a picture because on one long bench sits a group of refugees with a drunken homeless man yelling at them as if his situation were their fault. A little further down is a group of young men who at 11:30 in the morning are on at least their second beer (if they even stopped from the night before). They drink openly and laugh intermittently. About one meter from them sits two college aged tourists with their backpacks contemplating where they will go next and on the end sits what appears to be a young professional eating a sandwich on her lunch break. I wonder whether any of them know Jesus. I want to wander over and talk to them and tell them about the hope they could have if only they would put their trust in Him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">I attend a Mother's group and talk to the ladies about my struggles - as a wife, as a mother, as a Christian. I am more open than usual and I wonder whether I should care more about what people will think or say about me. Still I feel I must be honest and transparent because I want to bring glory to God and not to myself. Me trying to cover up the fact that I struggle - daily (ok hourly) isn't helping me or anyone else. I look at the tired, over-worked, under-appreciated women in the audience and I see one after the other crying. I am not along in my struggles. Do they have hope? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Some days I feel like doing as little as possible just to get through the day. Some days I work so hard that when I finally lie down my back and feet convulse in pain. Most days it's just the day in and day out grind of living in a place (Earth) and in a body that makes life difficult, painful, exhausting and frustrating. I long for something more. I was made for another world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.72px;">I am not the same person I was when I left for England all these years ago. If there is anything God has taught me through being a wife and mama, it is my utter and complete need for Jesus. I am a sinful, hurtful, prideful, easily angered and selfish person. I need Jesus and His Holy Spirit to heal the broken places in my life and to fill me with hope, joy and peace... DAILY!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.72px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.72px;">When it comes down to it, Jesus is the only thing that satisfies the longings of my heart and He is the only thing that will satisfy the longings of YOUR heart too. He made you. He made you to desire a relationshp with Him. If you feel like day in and day out you are just going through the motions and you want something more out of this life - focus on Christ. Ask him to transform you and to give you hope. He is faithful. I hope these lyrics remind you of His goodness and love for you. I have paraphrased: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are good - when </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">there's nothing good in me</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are love - on </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">display for all to see</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are light - when </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">the darkness closes in</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are hope - y</span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">ou have covered all my sin</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are peace - when </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">my fear is crippling</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are true - e</span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">ven in my wandering</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are joy - y</span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">ou're the reason that I sing</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are life - i</span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">n You death has lost its sting</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Oh, I'm running to Your arms,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">I'm running to Your arms.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">The riches of Your love</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Will always be enough</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Nothing compares to Your embrace</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Light of the world forever reign</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are more - </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Than my words will ever say</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are Lord - </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">All creation will proclaim</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are here - </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">In Your presence I'm made whole</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">You are God - </span><span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Of all else I'm letting go</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Oh, I'm running to Your arms</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">I'm running to Your arms</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">The riches of Your love</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Will always be enough</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Nothing compares to Your embrace</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Light of the world forever reign</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">My heart will sing</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">no other Name</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Jesus, Jesus</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Oh, I'm running to Your arms</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">I'm running to Your arms</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">The riches of Your love</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Will always be enough</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21.3px;">
<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;"><br style="line-height: 22.72px;" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.72px;">Hillsong - Forever Reign</span></div>
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-9941702172463729382016-03-14T10:06:00.000-07:002016-03-14T11:19:09.044-07:00Rathbone Spring Update from Germany...Between crying out to God to ensure moving back to the states and adopting is HIS plan and not OUR plan, sorting through the German paperwork associated with such a move and working with Tyler and Nicole to get their visa's and further integrate them into the German culture and our team, Alan and I have also been busy with many other ministry related opportunities. This is a short update to keep our faithful and gracious supporters up to date as to how God is using us and your funds to continue the work here in Germany. From the bottoms of our hearts we thank you for your prayers and for standing with us.<br />
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Now for the update...<br />
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Tyler, Nicole and Bex all joined us last fall as you know. Nicole and Tyler (from Maryland and Alabama respectively) came on board full-time and Bex (from England) joined us as an adjunct member until the end of May. Tyler, applied for and received shortly thereafter a one year language visa to live and study German here until October. He attends intensive German language school Monday - Friday from 9-1 and then helps do work with refugees and his church at nights and on the weekends. Tyler recently found an apartment near us and is very glad to be setting down some roots. Nicole, already nearly fluent in German, has been granted a temporary visa while her two year visa is under consideration. Germany is surprisingly not interested in having missionaries or others come to focus on refugee work so we had to minimize that on her application and emphasize her work alongside the local church. Would you please pray with us that this visa will be granted quickly and for at least two years? Bex works with us 50% of the time and the remaining 50% she has been working at two different schools in Heidelberg as a teacher. Bex recently got engaged to a German she met before joining our team and they marry in England in early July. The whole team hopes to attend the wedding. <br />
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This week our team is hosting a short-term missions team through WFBC and the Great Exchange in Georgia. I have posted another <a href="http://alanandmary.blogspot.com/2016/03/wfbc-short-term-missions-team-update.html" target="_blank">update</a> in our blog about the group and what they have been able to accomplish so I won't expound upon it here but they have been a blessing. The day they leave Alan and I welcome our hopeful replacement family who are coming to do a survey trip for about 3 weeks. Peter and Tosca are Pioneers workers from Australia, most recently serving in the Philippians for the past 6 years and feel God is calling them and their children to Germany to work with refugees and migrants. Please pray God would open up doors, build relationships, find schools for their children to attend and give them a real peace and excitement about coming here. If all goes well, they would move here in August about a month and a half after we depart. <br />
<br />
Alan and I have continued to host our Monday night bible study each week which has really grown over the last six months. We have on average 10-12 young adults that attend and we've been studying I Corinthians together. Alan spends the remainder of his week either helping out with Chloe or working with refugees. He helps Tyler twice a week with the children's program at the largest refugee camp, attends a mens refugee night once a week and has also recruited refugees to come to a meal at our church which we cook for and host twice a month. In addition he is starting this week to help use his extensive construction background to construct a coffee house at our church and he has invited refugee men to come and work alongside him. I think this is a fantastic way he can use his gifts to also further the kingdom of God by surrounding these refugees with Godly men at our church each week. Will you pray for boldness for him and the others at the church as they work together?<br />
<br />
I spend the majority of my time using my gifts of organization to keep track of my husband and daughter, keep them well fed and in clean clothes and our house not looking like a pit. :) I like attending MOPS meetings when I can and this month I'm going to be speaking at the group for the Easter meeting on "Hope through the Resurrection of Jesus". I am also helping with a bake sale to benefit MOPS and our local ProLife organization, participating at a flea market with another MOPS mom and Chloe and I will host our second annual Easter Egg hunt for her kindergarten friends and their mama's. I am mentoring Nicole as her team leader and working through marriage counseling CD's with Bex each week in anticipation of her upcoming marriage. <br />
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Our lives are rich in our every day and in anticipation of whatever God has in store for us next. We are so thankful for God's faithfulness and provision for us. We are walking in faith that He has the next steps already determined for us and that He will lead us as we trust Him. We ask for your prayers in this as well. Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-27136977397096340952016-03-14T10:03:00.001-07:002016-03-14T10:03:36.564-07:00WFBC Short-Term Missions Team Update<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">This week Alan and I
welcomed four UGA students from Watkinsville First Baptist Church (our sending
church in the states) for a week of Great Exchange surveys and refugee work. The team was made up of Lauren Clark, Micah Houghton, McKenna Vick and Catherine
Villis. I have posted some of our updates from the week so you can see what the team was up to and remember to pray for them as they return to their studies in the states. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Saturday March 5th - Morning</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia";">The Germany missions team
from WFBC has arrived in Frankfurt and is on their way to Heidelberg where
breakfast is waiting. Please pray for the team this week as they do the Great
Exchange Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and early afternoons. They
will also help host a meal for a dozen Syrian and Iraqi refugees Saturday night
(tonight!), work with over 100 refugee children Tuesday and Friday nights and
minister to refugee men through a game night on Thursday. They join our regular
housegroup to share their testimonies with our German/British/American group as
well Monday night. It's a very full week. Please pray against too much jet lag
and against the spiritual attack that they will certainly feel in this
post-Christian country. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Evening </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">We've been very impressed
with the team thus far - they dove straight in after a few hours rest at the
hostel talking to refugees tonight and getting to know them better at the
dinner we hosted at our church. I think it was interesting for them to hear
first hand about why these refugees are here and what they have had to flee and
also just to sit, eat a meal, sing around the piano, laugh and pray together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><b>Wednesday</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The team has been here
since Saturday and has done great work as God's ambassadors to Heidelberg. The
team spent Sunday with our church, enjoying a pot luck after and then we had a
meal and prayer and worship time at our house that evening. Monday we kicked
off the Great Exchange with prayer and worship and had dozens of gospel
conversations with committed atheists, Muslims and even a few Christians (or
they claimed that but didn't have any certainty of what would happen to them
after they died). One man we interviewed whose mother was Greek Orthodox
Christian and whose father was a committed Muslim said he remained uncommitted
to any notion of a God. Monday night the team came to our house and joined with
other German believers for a time of testimony sharing, worship, prayer and
fellowship. On Tuesday when it was time to go, Alan said every single person
was doing a survey and it was hard to get them to stop. Praise God! Tuesday
night the team went to the largest refugee camp here (a former military camp)
and helped with a children's program hosting around 150 refugee children for
soccer and basketball, drawing, doing puzzles and playing with dolls. Today the
team has the day off to see Heidelberg and to relax before another two days of
surveys and refugee work. We covet your prayers for the team - for boldness in
sharing, for favor with the German offficials (we've been stopped doing worship
music in the streets already once!) and for many to come to know Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The remainder of the week the team did surveys in the mornings and afternoons after great praise and worship led by Bex, Lauren and Micah and a time of prayer. Thursday night the team went to a church where refugee men primarily come each week to play games and socialize. They got into many good conversations and enjoyed getting to know the men better. Friday night it was back to PHV for the children's program and then to our house for a short debrief and a surprise birthday cake and singing for Micah whose birthday was yesterday. Saturday it was up early to get to the airport and fortunately all arrived home in Georgia safe and sound Saturday night. <br />
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We have truly been blessed by the team and their willingness to jump right in, share their faith and their love for Christ this last week. We pray God will watch over them as they continue their studies at UGA.<br />
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-45983485693589712432016-02-01T07:00:00.002-08:002016-02-01T09:15:28.623-08:00Pioneers Magazine Article on the Refugee Crisis in EuropeSince I'm so delayed in updating this blog (ok by a lot) I thought some of you might like to read an article I wrote for the latest Pioneers magazine due out next month regarding the refugee crisis in Europe but more specifically in Germany...<br />
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All is well here. We are thankful.<br />
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<b>The Refugee Crisis in Europe... one perspective</b><br />
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Much has been seen or read in the news about the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe. One of the countries most deeply impacted has been Germany - taking in over a million refugees in the last year. Many have questioned the wisdom of such a decision - even more so after the Paris shootings and Cologne attacks. How well do we know those coming to live amongst us? Do they mean us harm? Are they here to better their lives or are they truly escaping certain death from a common enemy that has arisen over the years in the Middle East? Take a walk around one of the hundreds of refugee camps recently setup in Germany and look at the people there and it's very difficult to tell which ones are fleeing war, which are coming for a better life and which ones are here to take advantage or plan to cause some sort of harm. So why do they come? Don't they want to return home one day or is it that there is no home left to return to? An interview with a Syrian couple gave this picture that can not be properly felt in written words. You should see the man as he spoke - his eyes red and swollen from tears, his wife barely controlling her grief. Their words:<br />
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"When we talk about the past, I almost lose my mind. </div>
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Damascus is one of the most beautiful and oldest cities.</div>
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We pursued our work and in our free-time</div>
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we visited family and friends. </div>
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We walked through the old neighborhoods </div>
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with its narrow streets and smells. </div>
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The people there live simply. </div>
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We enjoyed the ease of life. </div>
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I prayed to God that he would spare this town. </div>
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Because the whole of Syria has been destroyed. </div>
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Syria is now a country of the past. </div>
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I pray for the preservation of this city. </div>
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We have the most beautiful memories. </div>
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We have the most beautiful flowers - it smells like Jasmin. </div>
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The children sing. </div>
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My land, my land Where is my land now? </div>
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Forgive me In my heart there is deep sadness </div>
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We apologize - the injury is large </div>
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The loss of one's homeland is very difficult."</div>
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Most of us will never know or truly understand the hearts of our new neighbors or what they have gone through and experienced. A refugee friend from Iraq who has two young boys and arrived about three months ago said every day in Iraq his boys would come home from school and say to him, “Daddy, we have to leave or ISIS will kill us.” So that is what they did. They took what few possessions they could carry along with their 9 and 4 year old sons and they walked for days and days to reach Turkey and then Greece by boat and then more walking and trains to Germany. Most of the way the father had to carry his youngest son on his back. People reportedly die all the time on these boats and along the way. They saw people die. These men, women and children are courageous and they are fighting for a better life for their families.<br />
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While Germans for the most part have welcomed refugees and migrants in with open arms, there have been reservations. There’s the open question as to how many is too many? Who will bear the costs? Where can they be housed? In the area around Heidelberg where we serve, there are over 35 camps – some in old army barracks, some in converted hospitals, hotels or apartments. Even sports halls are being used. Some parts of Germany are seeing conversions to Christianity en masse. The Jesus film was shown at an Arab’s men’s meeting here in Heidelberg and afterwards a dozen men stayed behind to ask questions - ten of which gave their lives to Jesus before leaving. Praise God for his faithfulness.<br />
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What an unprecedented time in history. God has literally brought the Arab world to Germany and to Europe and it is our job as Christians to be the hands and feet of Christ to them all. Please join us in praying that God would send more workers into his harvest fields for the harvest is ripe!Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-51940897296097021652015-12-10T04:58:00.003-08:002015-12-10T04:58:54.240-08:00Rathbone family update and a final update on our Shoebox campaignIt's been three months since my last confessional (I mean blog post). :) Either I am so busy I can't think straight or I am a slacker or maybe a bit of both. Ahhhh - where to start...<br />
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Alan and I said one thing to eachother a few months back when we decided we were going to move back to the states to adopt next summer. We said we really wanted to make our last months in Germany count and not waste a moment if we could help it doing ministry here. Well, God held us to our pledge and these last few months we have seen blessings flow in abundance - from three new team members to 1300 Christmas shoeboxes delivered to our new neighbors. We've built friendships with refugees, enjoyed great times together as a house group and as a team and worked to deepen networking relationships with MOPS mother's and our church family. It has been a deeply rewarding but also exhausting three and a half months since I last wrote to you. <br />
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Our family is all doing well. Chloe is half way through her second year in German Kindergarten. Her German is coming along great except she still refuses to use it at school. Not sure why but we have heard it is quite common with bi-lingual families. If you are wondering, no she doesn't speak English at school either - she just smiles, occassionally sings, laughs and points. Her teacher's don't seem worried and enjoy having her in the class. She's made lots of good friends who she goes to play with or they come here. She corrects both her mom's and dad's German. She's smart as a whip and so full of personality. What a precious gift.<br />
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Our plans for adoption are only beginning as we agreed not to think about it too much until after we made it through the Christmas shoebox campaign and got to Georgia for Christmas. So many of our friends are fostering or adopting and this encourages us. Please pray God would lead us to the child or children He has in mind for our family. <br />
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Alan has really enjoyed going to the largest refugee camp two - three nights a week and helping with the children's program. He goes with two of our team members and they do various things from playing basketball and soccer to helping teach German and play games. He has also made a new friend from Iraq and last week we took his family to lunch in Heidelberg for Indian food and then to the Christmas market. They are a delightful family. They walked for days to get to Germany with their youngest child who is Chloe's age (on their backs for a good portion of the time). Every day they were in Iraq the oldest son would tell his dad, "dad we have to go. ISIS is going to come and kill us." We, living in Germany can simply not understand the terror they withstood and now we are glad to welcome them to a place where they can hopefully have a better life. Alan's friend has helped us distribute shoeboxes every night this week and serves as our interpretor. <br />
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Shoeboxes have been my life for the past three months but yesterday after 8 hours on my feet with maybe a 10 minute break, we finished all the sorting, wrapping and organizing by camp. It was so exhilarating to see the boxes leave the building and head to the various camps and although there have been a few small hiccups with delivery, the delight in the children and parents faces when they receive the boxes has been worth any difficulty. <br />
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The day after tomorrow we head back to Georgia for a month of vacation and home assignment where we hope to catch up with as many of our supporters as possible. If you would like us to come and speak at your Sunday school or bible study about our experiences this last year in Germany, please contact us. We are looking forward to some downtime with family (although my family rarely enjoys downtime if I'm honest. I come from a long line of workaholics!!) and just the chance to look back at all God has done these last few months as we plan and prepare to return in Germany in mid January. <br />
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Here are some pictures of our last few months:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokswszMxk_9-7xg-M3F_PqQLnXCVj12uUUxoV4Fjh0dTq46qur1kob54_arNQz2l1VhgLZHYT1pxOMUPeOcqQK8Cy0jb5MjUsoX9A0MfRYzvMbbpGlE101IouOLcJ2u8BONhQwx8EiYw/s1600/The+Team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokswszMxk_9-7xg-M3F_PqQLnXCVj12uUUxoV4Fjh0dTq46qur1kob54_arNQz2l1VhgLZHYT1pxOMUPeOcqQK8Cy0jb5MjUsoX9A0MfRYzvMbbpGlE101IouOLcJ2u8BONhQwx8EiYw/s320/The+Team.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Team - Tyler from Alabama, Bex from southwest English and Nicole from Maryland</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sweet kids at the children's program at Patrick Henry Village Refugee Camp</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The prayer room before with toys and empty boxes underneath</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last 150 shoeboxes to sort and organize by camp</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delivering to the camps - happy faces all around</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Et1aUbDWy6tpGo6FKC5cowwNQNbPUbRfTe-RiaT5SngHlVvPifOMu67TwTTCeGlMiZRRK0bkbClP1MFn931OLZVT_5qbodM1zku9sBYkkO-LsUPVobaYENgiR9grflJqDXU0fVwhFxw/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Et1aUbDWy6tpGo6FKC5cowwNQNbPUbRfTe-RiaT5SngHlVvPifOMu67TwTTCeGlMiZRRK0bkbClP1MFn931OLZVT_5qbodM1zku9sBYkkO-LsUPVobaYENgiR9grflJqDXU0fVwhFxw/s320/photo+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HofjgyvRU-u5Wo8Z-ueOuTtrAoS8y5np7AG_Q-Z8D4ds_K3kuZ2ivWgjWuaUjeDhG8vVVo3VqJRYpLJj3X5zWbuzkIIZAlEAiK59UlK-MDJgJmV3yP55E0p2EDmd2FYbUkQQqUhaK3A/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HofjgyvRU-u5Wo8Z-ueOuTtrAoS8y5np7AG_Q-Z8D4ds_K3kuZ2ivWgjWuaUjeDhG8vVVo3VqJRYpLJj3X5zWbuzkIIZAlEAiK59UlK-MDJgJmV3yP55E0p2EDmd2FYbUkQQqUhaK3A/s320/photo+3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we're done... :)</td></tr>
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<br />Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-55490334753313222612015-08-05T03:25:00.002-07:002015-08-05T03:25:59.809-07:00Planned Parenthood and its 3%, a win in the SenateA few weeks ago when the videos that have shocked the good majority of the civilized world appeared online, Planned Parenthood had to say something. These videos were so graphic and so appalling as to what exactly the organization was planning and carrying out that they needed to come up with a counter offensive and fast. So Planed Parenthood decided to take the focus off abortion and selling murdered children's body parts. They decided to minimize abortion and focus instead on the other services they provide. <br />
<br />
As a result, the US Senate failed to achieve the 60 votes needed to de-fund the barbaric and morally bankrupt organization Monday night. Pro abortion (mostly Democratic) senators continued to use the party line of "only 3% of Planned Parenthood's 'services' are for abortion". So another words, abortion - a service which murders one life and permanently scars another is being equated in Planned Parenthood's reporting to giving out a pamphlet (service), taking blood pressure (service) or handing out a pack of pills (service).<br />
<br />
PP is stressing the "other" services they provide (while conveniently not revealing that most have seen year over year decline while abortions continue to rise). They hide what can be easily found in their annual report where it says they did 327,166 abortion procedures in the course of one year and only 2,197 adoption referrals. That works out to approximately 149 abortions for each adoption referral. They also fail to mention that abortion services currently account for 37% of Planned Parenthood's revenue or that half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds flow into PP every year in the form of government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements. Even though this money is "technically" not allowed to be used for abortions, with it Planned parenthood can funnel all the money it does receive from donors to abortion services which helps them turn a profit of nearly 127M every year. One million abortions have been performed by this organization in the last three years. This is BIG business and make no mistake, they don't want it going away. Selling baby parts? That's just icing on the cake. <br />
<br />
So what do they do? They stick to the 3% and they shout loudly that Pro Life groups are trying to prevent women from receiving cancer screenings, birth control pills and the help they deserve through the de-funding (even though they can very easily receive these services elsewhere). They focus on minority groups and disguise their actual exploitation of them as help. They get their blind supporters to spread the sugar coated lies around the web and they scare a few senators into keeping quiet in the face of the biggest holocaust the world has ever known. And the result? They win another battle in our Senate. <br />
<br />
But just what have they won? <br />
<br />
Well, congratulations - your prize is a morally bankrupt nation with a missing generation of young people that could have cured Cancer and Alzheimer's, won the Nobel prize and countless gold medals. Who knows the greatness these children you murdered could have achieved or the people they could have saved, loved and helped. Planned Parenthood - you do everything but protect the weak and innocent as you claim. Your day is coming. Let us not stop fighting. <br />
<br />
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<div style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”</span></div>
<div align="RIGHT" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
–Santayana</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933 and 1945 because they resisted Naziism help to unite the living in the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow man.”</span></div>
<div align="RIGHT" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
–inscription in eight languages on a memorial to those who died at the Dachau, Germany concentration camp.</div>
Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-79660763704391550842015-06-27T13:21:00.001-07:002015-06-28T06:47:14.578-07:00Rainbows and Celebrations<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time." Genesis 6:5</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Any clue when this verse was written? Feels like it could apply today to me (and no I don't mean today in terms of the recent vote by the Supreme Court. That would be too simple really. I mean today as in the time in which we find ourselves living). This verse was actually said right before God sent the flood to destroy all mankind (except for Noah who walked with God and was considered righteous and his family).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I love rainbows and the fact that after the flood, God placed a rainbow in the sky to signify his covenant to Noah and to all people that he would never again destroy mankind by flood. When I look at rainbows I think of the sins which made God sorry He had created man and I think of new life that Jesus brings. I don't think of celebrating homosexuality no matter what our white house or a Facebook application says.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So what do you celebrate? </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Pride, jealousy, hatred,
lust, anger, idolatry, envy, adultery, fornication, murder, lies, greed,
homosexuality, gluttony, the love of anything above God - all sins. While it's
easy to look at one of these and make it the hot bed topic of the day (especially
if we see it present in someone else's life), the truth is that in God's eyes
we were all guilty and all in desperate need of grace. Jesus came, died and
rose to conquer death and provide a way for us to receive forgiveness for our
sins and be reconciled to a perfect, sinless God. Not just for the sins that
happen to be the most popular ones to our culture at the present time but for all
of them. He wants to pour out grace overflowing into all of our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So what are you guilty of?
What sin do you celebrate in your own life or in the life of another? Do you
laugh when your coworker describes his affair or do you go along with it when
someone asks you to lie for them? Would you do just about anything to have that
extra money in your bank account or to get ahead at work? Do you watch
smut on TV and laugh at and envy those who will do nearly anything or anybody
to get noticed? If you are one that celebrates someone else's sin is it because
you truly think that sin is not really a sin or is it because you are too
afraid to go against the masses? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So what do you celebrate?</span></b><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"Abortion is a
woman's choice. It's not really a baby until it's born."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"I don't have enough
money to give to starving children around the world but let's meet at Starbucks
for a latte later to pray for others to give."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"Yes we're divorcing.
We grew apart and just don't love each other anymore." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"I go to church when
I don't have something else going on and if I like the pastor and the music is
my style."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"Everyone lies on
their taxes"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"All men look at
porn. It's natural."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"He doesn't treat me
the way I deserve to be treated. That's why I had the affair."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"Living with my
boyfriend or girlfriend is the best way to find out whether we should get
married or not."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"I've always been
this way. I can't change"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">“The reason why I will
kill you is you are infidels…we must establish Islam in this country"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Sin is never to be celebrated. We are called to fall at the feet of our creator and to confess our sins to Him and to receive the grace and mercy He so willingly wants to pour out on us. He wants to help us find life and a life that is abundantly lived. Do you want to find life?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"Then I saw a great
white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled
away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and
the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book
was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things
which were written in the books, according to their deeds.…" Revelation
20:11, 12<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-527669374637175242015-06-07T19:41:00.000-07:002015-06-07T19:41:00.918-07:00A good visit home and what lies aheadTo summarize this trip home is difficult to do. It was great fun but not extremely restful. This seems to be a reoccurring theme for us as a family however. :) Everything was a bit of a whirlwind with a long list of day by day things we had planned, none of us remembering what the next day held which made us all laugh. Things I recall (these are not in order of importance or date)...<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Lots of time at Christine's new house with Chloe's cousins and Aunt Lee Anne. Lots and lots and lots... :) Slip and slides, bath time with ice creams, birthday sleep over's, bunny and puppy fun, swings and seesaw craziness, grilled cheeses and about a thousand games of hide and seek.</li>
<li>Several meetings with Jon Deans and one also with the guys coming over to work with us for the Great Exchange next week.</li>
<li>The pregnancy announcement that we will be expecting a nephew to join the Mill's party of five in November.</li>
<li>Great catch ups with mom and dad and fun just sitting with mom eating chocolate easter eggs and drinking wine for dinner when the husbands were in SC.</li>
<li>A nice day and a half spent with Mark and Dusty (my cousin and his son) from Vacaville, CA. Dusty is moving from California to Boston to study pharmaceuticals. </li>
<li>A good visit with Tyler, our full-timer from Birmingham, Alabama that God willing. will join us in September in Germany.</li>
<li>VBS every night for five days for Chloe and her cousins was a big hit. Held at WFBC, over 500 children and probably nearly 150 volunteers hosted. Can you say, madness??</li>
<li>Breakfast visits with Brennen, Brita and Brenda. Lunch with Mel and the kids, Mike and Dede. Dinner out with the Schacher's and my best friend Melody.</li>
<li>Luke Knight's baseball game in Social Circle and explaining the intricacies of baseball to Chloe.</li>
<li>A way too short catch up with Patti at one of her yard sales for Haiti. We'll have to do better at Christmas.</li>
<li>Emma Lyn's 4th birthday party. Theme: Sophia the First, Food: Sprinkle donuts and wonderful breakfast sausage balls and casserole's. Guests: The family from both sides and lots of Emma's friends from preschool. Extra Special: Trip to the library for bouncy castles, petting zoo, blue grass music and crafts.</li>
<li>Chloe Lee's 4th birthday party. Theme: Everything princess. Food: Princess cake and ice cream. Guests: Immediate Family and Rapunzel, Cinderella, Elsa and Anna (aka Charlotte, Chloe, Emma and Lily) Extra Special: A trip to chuck e cheese for Chloe and her cousins and Aunt Lee Anne</li>
<li>An afternoon with Kay, Stacey, Mary Beth, Clark and Joan. We served pecan pie and lemon meringue pie (because Kay likes anything "lemon"), sat on both porches (screen and Christine's front porch) to rock and took a tour of the Mill's new diggs.</li>
<li>Date night with my husband at Logan's steak house. He loved throwing the peanut shells all over the floor!</li>
<li>Three days with Alan and Chloe at the lake fishing, swimming, golfing, Mexican dinner, North Carolina girls adventure day and movies.</li>
<li>Memorial Day weekend trip to the lake with the immediate family plus my uncle Ray and aunt Mary Ann and my cousins Julie and Ryan from Rhode Island and Vermont. Fun memories: Going out on the boat, eating at the Mexican restaurant and at the Lighthouse, swimming in the salt water pool, staying at the hotel in Seneca and eating m&m waffles in the morning, </li>
<li>Alan and dad going up to the lake for two days of just man fishing and them not catching a single thing but their story of getting caught in torrential rain and hail on Lake Joccassee was pretty funny to hear.</li>
<li>Adoption recruitment fair at GA Square Mall and Adoption orientation meeting went well with Bethany.</li>
<li>Watching my husband rebuild a brick wall for mom and dad that had been uprooted and fallen due to tree roots. He only got about 1000 bug bites and went through 3 or so changes of clothes in the 90 degree heat each day he worked. :)</li>
<li>To Atlanta with mom, dad and Alan to see CS Lewis's book, "The Great Divorce" adapted for the stage at the Woodruff Arts center. It was their gift from us for Mother's and Father's day.</li>
<li>Chloe had her first visit to a pediatric dentist and loved it. We were told she has beautiful and very clean and healthy teeth. Hooray!</li>
<li>Monday night bible study with a lot of our dearest supporters and missing hugs off Shirley Carter, a staple to the group who passed away two months ago.</li>
<li>A lot of soul searching and praying about next steps for us as a family and for our ministry in the year ahead.</li>
<li>Lots of email, skype calls and back and forths to nail down plans for the Great Exchange, Hochschultage and craziness which starts three days after we return home </li>
<li>Lots more emails and messages, phone calls and legalese back to England where we're currently selling Alan's home. Praying things finalize in the next two weeks and that our dear friends Mihai and Simona will finally be home owners!!</li>
</ul>
<div>
So what's ahead...</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Two teams arrive this Friday into Heidelberg to help us with the Hochschultage and the Great Exchange. The first team consists of two girls coming to work with us for a month from Pioneers in the US. The second team is the Great Exchange team consisting of two men from a church in Normaltown in Athens. </li>
<li>Friday is also the day Chloe's 4th birthday will be celebrated at kindergarten. Mom has to bring American cupcakes. :)</li>
<li>Sunday night will be the kick off for the Hochschultage</li>
<li>Monday - Friday we will be attending prayer breakfasts, doing the Great Exchange through the day and going to nightly events.</li>
<li>Sunday is the Living Neckar - all day church services, evangelism and activities on the Neckarweise.</li>
<li>Monday the Great Exchange team leaves.</li>
<li>Tuesday 23rd - July the 8th - serving with Sam (our short-term missionary from Belfast) and our Pioneers girls finishing the construction of the loft, working with students at the University and volunteering doing mini projects around town.</li>
<li>July 9th - 12th - Awakening Conference, Nurnberg</li>
<li>July 13th - Pioneers Edge team leaves for the USA and Sam also returns to Belfast.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Please if you think of it pray for us over this next month. Pray God will do great things in the lives of the 5 working with us and in the people we come into contact with. Pray for our future plans to adopt and for Nicole and Tyler coming to work with us in just a few months. Pray they get their visa's and that God would use them both in a mighty way!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-16842324535029044982015-05-10T17:04:00.001-07:002015-05-10T17:04:22.506-07:00Euro Connect Conference UpdateLast week we returned from the Pioneer Euro Connect conference in Hungary. When we first looked at the forecast for the week we were a bit sad that Malta wasn't the chosen location again for the regional conference but in the end we spent the majority of our time inside the hotel either in sessions or going to the pool so the bad weather wasn't much of a factor. Tuesday, our only sightseeing day it was supposed to rain but God held it off so we could have a nice tour of Budapest and a river cruise down the Danube. Chloe made two sweet friends from Amsterdam whose parents situation is very similar to ours (married 6 years ago, both old like us, oldest boy is just a bit older than Chloe, late in life missionaries, etc.) We enjoyed getting to know them the rest of the week and a bit of their story. <div>
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Simon Longden, director of the Australia mobilization base was the featured speaker for the week and he was terrific. Every day he brought something new, creative and inspired for us from the bible. He is such a good story teller and his jokes were funny which make it interesting. Von Newcomb and his wife led worship and that really couldn't have been better. As for the sessions, I enjoyed the first day where we broke up into small groups and had over an hour and a half just to get to know each other better and pray for one another. That was one of the most impactful things for me personally. I also enjoyed the session about Missionary kids as Chloe continues to be on the forefront of this mother's mind and her adjustment to all the change around her. The afternoons each day we had free to swim or go for walks around the lake or just hang out. Chloe loved the pools and I really enjoyed the lazy river that they turned on every half hour or so. Very relaxing fun.</div>
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One of the things that did stand out to me that I found difficult is other than that first session there was very little organized opportunity to get to know others at the conference better. We tried a dozen times or more to invite people to join us for a meal but with so many in attendance it was just really hard to get to know folks on a deeper level. I felt mostly lonely and awkward in the middle of this huge group of fellow missionaries and that was a very strange feeling. Being with Alan and Chloe and also with Eric and Ellen were two times I recall feeling comfortable and at ease. Malta was similar but my parents joined us for that conference so maybe we felt it less. Maybe though we just come to these conferences looking for rejuvenation and rest and meeting people feels like too much work. I'd be curious as to whether we were alone in this feeling.</div>
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So what else...</div>
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Well, the hotel I of course look at from my hotelier background so take the below with a grain of salt if hotel reviews aren't your thing. I'm probably not the most objective observer and my Four Seasons trained eye is always making notes of what was excellent, good and not so good. If I wrote on up a review on Trip Advisor for the Hotel Azur I would say the following:</div>
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Good things:</div>
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<li>Lots of the staff spoke German. Apparently Hungary was a big place for Eastern Germans after the war and still is a big tourist spot for Germans so we felt like we had the inside edge!</li>
<li>Pools were big and nice</li>
<li>Rooms were average size, big enough if you weren't going to stay in them for long, pretty view of the lake.</li>
<li>Bowling alley in the hotel!</li>
<li>Rooms had mini-bars that you could load your own drinks into (see also negative comment below)</li>
<li>Hotel was clean and the staff were friendly</li>
<li>Hotel armbands were a convenient way to get in and out of rooms, identify yourself for meals, etc. </li>
<li>They were very nice when we told them Chloe managed to color on the balcony walls as she had run out of paper. Alan tried for ages to get it off but wax crayons on stucco paint just was too much.</li>
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Not so good things:</div>
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<li>Only lukewarm water is offered for lunch and dinner at no charge. You can ask for ice for the water but to the chagrin of most of the servers there. By the end of the week they just said no when we asked and acted like they had run out. lol At breakfast you can get orange juice and coffee out of a machine for free so we tried to drink our daily allotment then. Everything else you pay steeply for. Alan and I got dinged when we took Chloe bowling one day at the hotel and ordered an orange juice for her. We were charged the equivalent of around 4 euros for the small glass and then charged a 2 euro service charge for the drink. Needless to say we didn't return nor buy any more drinks after that! :) </li>
<li>The food at the hotel is average. Unfortunately I couldn't tell whether it's just because I'm not a big fan of Hungarian food or if it was because the plates were always cold or the fact that most of the meals looked like a creative variation of the meal the day before (Day 1 pork steaks, day 2 pork soup, day 3 steamed carrots, day 4 carrots in a weird cheese sauce for breakfast, etc). Also unlike the hotel in Malta there is only one option for restaurant if you don't want to pay more and that gets really boring after a whole week.</li>
<li>The wireless internet simply doesn't work well in the rooms. Maybe 10% of the time we were able to connect. We found this true for lots of folks as most huddled around in the lobby using their phones or laptops. It's 2015 - you must have reliable wireless in every nook and cranny of your hotel. It's a must.</li>
<li>The mini-bars don't cool your drinks. I think the whole thing is just for show as there is no way to make them any cooler.</li>
<li>We paid for a packed breakfast and lunch on the day of departure as did all the others on the early shuttles but they never showed up.</li>
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When I used to work at the Four Seasons in Chicago and New York we would have reviewers that would come into our hotel undercover (paid for by the hotel corporate office) and they would tear apart every aspect of the hotel and write an extensive review about 3-4 times a year. It was REALLY a big deal and promotions and bonuses hinged on how well we did when one of these reviewers came in. Usually after about a few hours word would trickle down that a reviewer was there and everyone went on high alert. Nowadays every person, child and dog can write a review online that can greatly increase or greatly decrease a hotels business. I think being a reviewer would be a fascinating job! </div>
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Still on the whole I would recommend the hotel for a large conference group like this. For what we paid they did a good job. Our biggest thanks however goes to the Euro Connect team that pulled everything together, worked exceptionally hard and really handled all aspects of the conference so well. I'll post allowable pictures later in the week. </div>
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-37655785280685663432015-05-10T16:08:00.004-07:002015-05-10T16:08:37.116-07:00Spring Term Prayer Breakfast WeekA forgotten post I saved but never published... better late than never? lol<br />
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April 20th, Monday<br />
Today I got up abnormally early to try to walk down to the earlier bus that only goes on the main street through Neckargemuend with the hopes of making it to day one of the spring term prayer breakfast week early to help setup. If I had waited and taken the comes only once per hour bus near our home I would have arrived at the train station one minute before everything started and by the time I walked to Calvary I would have been late. So, why was I walking and taking the bus in the first place?? Well, because I just happened to find out from my friend Alex that I've been driving illegally in Germany for the past four years without realizing it. I "thought" I could keep my US license and as long as I renewed my international license every year that I would not have to change over until my US license was about to expire. I was actually told this by a couple of friends who will go unmentioned. :) And while this "may" be true for the US Military personnel living in Germany, it is apparently not true for the rest of us Ex-Pat's and so I abruptly had to stop driving about two weeks ago. Ugh. I love driving. I love the freedom it gives me to do nearly anything I want to do whenever I want to do it. And while taking the bus and train is far better exercise because you have to walk a ton and also sometimes walk very quickly so you don't miss said bus or train the times are not exceptionally convenient, especially at night or early in the morning from where we live. Still, you do feel much more "European" and that is sort'of neat in my book.<br />
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So back to my day...<br />
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I got to the prayer breakfast early and helped setup as best I could. I had made banana bread and was lugging my gym clothes as well beause my plan was to meet with a lady that mentors the leaders at Calvary directly following the prayer breakfast, then go to workout, head home and have a quick shower before walking down the hill to get Chloe. Fortunately there was a large team already hard at work at the church when I got there which was nice to see. Still, my hospitality gene kicked in as I noticed far more students arriving than we had seats for so I quickly slipped out and added a dozen or more chairs and place settings. Nothing worse than not having enough room or food for everyone. My mom taught me that. :) The group as a whole seems pretty passionate about being closer to Jesus and reaching their city for Him which is good. I hope it is an encouraging week for them.<br />
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The rest of the day went pretty much as planned with it culminating in bible study with our house group. We've been studying Revelation and we have only two studies left and four chapters to cover. It's been an interesting study with Alan taking a more historical view of the book while I take a more eclectic or futuristic view. Not sure where others in the study lie although I imagine they are somewhere in-between. I think we are just all grateful we are Christ followers - especially with the news all around us which confirms everything the Bible has said for over 2000 years. <br />
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Friday, April 24th<br />
The rest of the prayer breakfast week went well. I attended and helped out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and Alan went on Thursday. Unfortunately the more I attended the more walking I ended up doing on top of going up and down the hill to take or get Chloe from kindergarten each day and also to get our groceries. By the end of the week my feet had literally had it and my Plantar Faciitis that I hadn't felt since about six months after Chloe's birth has returned with a vengeance. Oh so painful it is. I immediately have gone to only wearing my special shoes literally everywhere and poor Alan had to come and get me several times and bring me home or take me places. Ugh the lack of freedom and having to depend on someone else to chauffeur me on top of my feet hurting all the time is really rough. <br />
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Tomorrow we head to the Pioneers EuroConnect conference in Hungary with 300+ other missionaries from around Europe. We're excited to get caught up with Eric and Ellen and others we haven't seen in over a year. Praying for a blessed time of fellowhip, great teaching and encouragement!Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-56103850838211823512015-03-20T02:42:00.001-07:002015-03-20T02:42:42.174-07:00Technology has taken over everything but still there is hopeThe other day I was committed to clearing out and throwing away. I didn't make it very far before I stumbled onto some old journals of mine. A journal on real paper. Those were the days... <br />
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The other night in bible study I reached behind me and grabbed my bible - the one that I used to put sticky note prayer requests for folks on every page and freely highlight something that spoke to me. It felt like it had been years since I picked up an actual bible. My iPhone bible app is my daily read most days with its nifty devotional plans and highlight feature, copy and paste directly to FB. It even offers to remind you if you forget a day and it says, "Great Job!" if you do your devotional. I think that's a bit weird but you've probably seen it too.<br />
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When I go home to Georgia I buy tons of thank you notes, the real ones, 8 in a package for $1 at the dollar store. I also buy birthday cards for all our family, friends and supporters. I actually have the very real intention of using them up before I come home next, of writing in them and sending them via what is now sentimentally referred to as "snail mail". Do I do it? Sometimes I do but never as much as I would have liked. Most friends and supporters get the VERY lame, "Happy Birthday" via FB because I have not yet setup a reminder for each of them that will send a message to my phone and tell me that so and so's birthday is in 10 days (it has to be at least 10 days in advance so I can get the card ready and mail from Germany). This too is on my very long "hasn't been done and I don't know when I'm getting to it 'to do' list".<br />
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Last week Chloe and I made Easter egg hunt invitations to send out to her classmates. Besides cutting them out and gluing on the cute bunny and chic with a glue gun, everything was done on the computer. I used word to create the egg shaped invitation, used word art to make the neat text on the page, used google to make sure everything was translated properly into German and said the proper way using other people's invitations they had posted online as examples. <br />
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Cooking for me has become a task of looking up online the most popular recipe's and then carrying them out with my phone by the stove as I follow along to the instructions. Before that though I use the recipe's while at the store to make my notepad grocery list and barely avoid running people over while pushing the cart around the store.<br />
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Yesterday Chloe had an envelope waiting for her at school and inside one thoughtful mother had printed three photos from the spring festival we attended on the weekend of Chloe and her son together. She didn't email them, she printed them so we could hang them on Chloe's mirror. This reminded me of the thousands of pictures I put up on FB, DropBox or Shutterfly but actually printing them... well that takes effort!<br />
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As I sorted clothes for refugees in Iraq in our church basement yesterday, I was reminded I could turn on my playlist on my phone and listen to Christian music to help make something that was sort of a dreary task into worship.<br />
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Plane tickets are booked on kayak.<br />
Prayer requests are asked for, compiled and sent via email, blog or newsletter.<br />
Calls home to mom and dad are made via Skype.<br />
Chatting with my sisters takes place on What'sApp or Facebook.<br />
Details of whether someone will attend or miss bible study happen via text.<br />
New clothes are purchased online and delivered via Kohl's via eBates with coupons from Retailmenot.<br />
Cinderella films are dressed for and enjoyed by all at the local movie theater.<br />
Decorations for an easter egg hunt are bought using Amazon.<br />
Studying for bible study involves a google search to one of several commentary sites.<br />
Curiosities about new aches and pains and I visit WebMD.<br />
My incentive to go 10 more minutes on the eliptical runner is my ability to play Hay Day (a very silly and addictive children's farm game on my phone) while I do it.<br />
Updates on a dying friend are listened to, cried over and prayed for in a FB group.<br />
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and I could go on and on and on but I don't think I have to. You have your own list. It's scary but I'm afraid there's no going back now. As I push the publish button on this blog I am perpetuating this fact but yet believe it or not there is still hope...<br />
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For example, yesterday I went to a ceramic store in Heidelberg as I have done a dozen times or more in the last few months to continue my new found love of painting. I think I get it from my mom who is infinitely better than I will ever be but what an incredible relaxing and creative way to meet people and take up a new hobby. The ceramic store has dozens and dozens of non-painted, unfired pieces that you can choose from to paint. They set you up with a little place to work, give you your brushes and paints and any instruction you need for doing stamps,stencils or screens. You come up with your own design and sometimes you have to come back several times just to finish one piece. The last one I did took about 12 hours of actual painting time and I loved every minute. <br />
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Then last night I visited a mom of one of Chloe's friends at school and we sat around the kitchen and talked and then went outside and actually sat for two hours while other neighbors came over and all the kids played together. It was a chilly but clear night in Neckargemuend, Germany and the view was spectacular. God gave us a perfect sunset and one neighbor brought over fresh baked cake right from her oven. I think Chloe ate three pieces. The children hung Easter eggs from the bushes and chased each other around the yard and down the slide and it was perfect. Before we left I was invited to attend a Tupperware party the next evening (a TUPPERWARE PARTY in the 21st century?!?) and the little girl we had visited walked us up the hill to our home as a kind gesture. Absolutely no technology anywhere in sight and it was priceless!<br />
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<br />Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-86365828411594122102015-02-25T01:35:00.002-08:002015-02-25T01:35:46.294-08:00What's happening and what's changing for us ahead...We began this year with the anticipation of a few things...<br />
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The first was our study of the book of Revelation in our Monday night bible study. The second was the arrival of our Venture student Sam from Belfast. The third was a hard push to finish the loft by the time our two teams arrive in June. Below is an update on those things plus a big change that we didn't anticipate but we feel God asking us to make.<br />
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Last night we had eight come to our bible study which was the biggest group so far and we really enjoyed our time together. We're now on chapter 6 studying how Jesus was alone worthy to open the seals and how in unsealing each one various things happened. Lots of people look at these seals with purely historic meaning, others see these things happening in the present or the future. Some recognize them as being applicable in all three. Alan tends to teach historically and I tend to look at them as they apply to what I see and read in the news around the world. We speak primarily in English with translation provided for anyone that doesn't understand into German. We sing, pray together and enjoy food and fellowship. We love it and are praying God will continue to draw new people and especially students to attend.<br />
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Sam arrived on Monday the 16th and spent his first week helping Alan with the loft, attending bible study, going to a new church plant in Heidelberg run by our friends Ralph and Ruth from Canada and getting to know Heidelberg and his host family. He's settling in a bit now with lots going on this week at both the CVJM and Calvary. Sam is interested in church plants and youth work primarily but He has a sincere passion for Jesus and is seeking others in his age group that feel the same and who really want to see Europe transformed. Sam will be with us until the Awakening conference in Nürnberg that we also hope to attend with our Edge participants in early July.<br />
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Alan has worked four and often five days a week since coming back from Christmas on our missions loft at the CVJM. We are hoping that both our Edge and Great Exchange teams from the US can stay there in June and that in September, Nicole, our full-time recruit, will live there. We are looking for another girl who can possibly join her on a short to mid-term basis so if you know of anyone that wants to come on mission to Germany for a month to up to a year, have them contact us or their closest Pioneers mobilization base for more information. The apartment will have two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bath. It's attached to a very large prayer room that anyone staying there can use to pray, study and get alone with God. We pray it is a blessing to not only those who stay there for little to no cost but also to the members of the CVJM and to this area.<br />
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So all of those things are going well, they're on track and we're pleased with the progress. The big change I noted above is that we feel God telling us to move our spiritual home from the CVJM in Meckesheim to a church in downtown Heidelberg. The move primarily allows us to have a better comprehension of the sermons being preached. Currently the CVJM services are in German with no translation and while it has been a good challenge, it is also very difficult to comprehend everything being said by the various speakers/preachers each week. Secondarily we feel God wants us to have more involvement with University students.<br />
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We have not 100% determined which church God has chosen for us to attend in Heidelberg although we are leaning heavily toward Calvary Chapel. We've attended there over the past year when our church hasn't had a scheduled meeting and we both really like a lot of things about it. The preaching is solid and is done by the pastor who chooses a book of the bible and then spends months tearing into it verse by verse. They've been studying II Samuel for a long time now and I think he's heading into Romans next. Calvary also has a lot of existing ministries that we can get involved with - a women's and a men's ministry, a cafe, an evangelistic outreach each week and many others. They have an international student group called LifeCafe that meets at Calvary as well but is not an official ministry of the church. <br />
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The second option is to attend the new International church in Heidelberg which formed from several smaller churches one of which was our old church, Victory International that semi-disbanded after the pastors left with the military. We have not attended the new church in downtown Heidelberg yet but have heard good things about it and many of our old friends go there. They have a student ministry (also not tied directly to the church) called Studenten für Christus. If you think of it, please pray for us that God would do the leading as to where He wants us and that we can get involved and be a blessing. We will continue to be a part of Campus für Christus which meets at the Hosanna Gemeinde on Thursday evenings and Sam will help be our liaison with the Hoschschultage group that combines all of these student groups together for one big week of evangelism on campus in June.<br />
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For those of you that have come on mission to Germany and have worked with the CVJM, please know that we plan to keep a strong relationship with the church and youth organization. We hope to involve them with all teams and individuals that come over, continue to help with their children and youth events/camps as well as seek out young people to come and work alongside them on mission. The CVJM has a ton of potential and we have been so grateful for the relationships we built while there. We will be what they call secondary members who stay involved but have another primary church they attend on a regular basis. <br />
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As always thank you for praying for us and keeping up with what's happening in Germany. Here are some prayer points in addition to what is noted above:<br />
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Prayer Points:<br />
Pray for Shirley Carter, a dear friend of our family and a prayer warrior and supporter of ours who has spent the last two weeks in the ICU. Pray the doctors would have real wisdom in treating her.<br />
Pray for our two full-timers trying to raise support to join us - Nicole Demers, from Delaware and Tyler Bowman from Alabama. Pray for support from their home churches, family and friends.<br />
Pray for the formation of our two short-term teams in June - our Great Exchange Team forming with help from Watkinsville First Baptist and the Great Exchange Group and our Edge Team with Pioneers in Orlando.<br />
Pray for language comprehension for Chloe at kindergarten.<br />
Pray for more opportunities for us to reach out to the parents of Chloe's friends at kindergarten.<br />
Pray for continued healing for Alan's mom's bowel problems and for Mary's mom's eye. <br />
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Pictures of the loft, Chloe, bible study and our lives here:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe and her good friend Elia</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We brought the American tradition of Valentine's Day Cards to Chloe's Kindergarten</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBDDQF1LZq51TT8E-dJyBDdwgWW_EntEQrAAYaDtVQrhQ48v9SlVoKLG7KICjf5C6B06xky6L6XJdZbg4thBd7vvgzgef87ceY1niiLtwSekFaIt_RLapGbiuhobxtTNPsoIj565PGZs/s1600/IMG_9331%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinBDDQF1LZq51TT8E-dJyBDdwgWW_EntEQrAAYaDtVQrhQ48v9SlVoKLG7KICjf5C6B06xky6L6XJdZbg4thBd7vvgzgef87ceY1niiLtwSekFaIt_RLapGbiuhobxtTNPsoIj565PGZs/s1600/IMG_9331%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alan answering questions about the loft</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPS9hWm0iA0008p5lr-4v77f_MubFfmezO3HNyR0H3LBXOGLGNy8bygTfMNrdNA_hyphenhyphenaMiIhM74l2Hwt55xZ6hyf7RoM5JEoQ1jWlTzgufFUZ1fbDjQRUujTWHMUtKE99FUmFUtptctvRI/s1600/IMG_9322%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPS9hWm0iA0008p5lr-4v77f_MubFfmezO3HNyR0H3LBXOGLGNy8bygTfMNrdNA_hyphenhyphenaMiIhM74l2Hwt55xZ6hyf7RoM5JEoQ1jWlTzgufFUZ1fbDjQRUujTWHMUtKE99FUmFUtptctvRI/s1600/IMG_9322%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This will be one of the bedrooms and the living room eventually</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9J-VvMJHBeIpi6Yps1hmmSUsWyAi8inuXocs0xFtVzWaBfBcKEALyerwHUeYnp-QUdSw_A-fUQoqscX7J88c5e-dvr9DH3mgD3YETylJPhtcAKg3Jvdt7mxJxM9oUcts3ZwqO8jspvoQ/s1600/IMG_9328%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9J-VvMJHBeIpi6Yps1hmmSUsWyAi8inuXocs0xFtVzWaBfBcKEALyerwHUeYnp-QUdSw_A-fUQoqscX7J88c5e-dvr9DH3mgD3YETylJPhtcAKg3Jvdt7mxJxM9oUcts3ZwqO8jspvoQ/s1600/IMG_9328%5B1%5D.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating Valentine's Day together</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxeEmzk9a4mBx3uWoEe4qtOoAsS5SNWYvcePFC6AZRj8t5scVvza1-bi2Zkw2SsfGWwSWicQdWAdB-_sPFJdQWZrzKdm3I-rI99bgG606VgnHDFcm9k63RAnOsj8ae4JuopnhZCBok0M/s1600/IMG_9831%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxeEmzk9a4mBx3uWoEe4qtOoAsS5SNWYvcePFC6AZRj8t5scVvza1-bi2Zkw2SsfGWwSWicQdWAdB-_sPFJdQWZrzKdm3I-rI99bgG606VgnHDFcm9k63RAnOsj8ae4JuopnhZCBok0M/s1600/IMG_9831%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking is one of our favorite things to do</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chloe and mom got new haircuts together on our momma/daughter day out</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdm0RjQHfC1iEXaHSDzh9YZtcbYOK95rS0u7VD50kSPg9gPcsP0J7pvBVWKaP4p4sLtvpJUGpsz99RxZitjNTbtSU46uWKuQ63WysD8reKrnBoB1IzHt2VqryD5PZai1ay0-W9VM6B4Y/s1600/IMG_9911%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdm0RjQHfC1iEXaHSDzh9YZtcbYOK95rS0u7VD50kSPg9gPcsP0J7pvBVWKaP4p4sLtvpJUGpsz99RxZitjNTbtSU46uWKuQ63WysD8reKrnBoB1IzHt2VqryD5PZai1ay0-W9VM6B4Y/s1600/IMG_9911%5B1%5D.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Bible/Book Study on Monday nights</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_505530183"></span><span id="goog_505530184"></span><br />Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-63713033377874522252015-02-24T00:14:00.000-08:002015-02-24T00:14:49.303-08:00Our latest supporter prayer note - January 2015I am sitting here today praying and fasting over so many
things.<br />
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On this, the 42<sup>nd</sup> anniversary of Roe vs. Wade I
pray for the March for Life in Washington D.C. and for the Unborn Child Pain
Protection Act which would outlaw late term abortions in America (one of only
seven remaining countries in the world to do so). I think about the politicians and how corrupt
so many are and I pray for our President who promises to veto any such bill. I pray for those who are coming to march and
the 49 late term abortion babies who will die every day this year - most if not
all, able to live viably outside the womb.
I pray for the doctors and the abortion clinic workers who are still so
blind to the truth. I pray they will
quit and find life giving work elsewhere.</div>
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Whenever I think about abortion I think about being called
by God to the country of Germany where another unspeakable holocaust occurred
less than a century ago. It was a
holocaust against the Jewish people, the disabled, the less than Hitler’s
perfect standard and I pray for continued restoration and healing for the
German people. I pray that with the
influx of refugees that Germany doesn’t return to a country that doesn’t
welcome anyone other than its own. I
think also of Israel and I pray for those that are suffering - for strength for
the families, for the constant threat that they face and for their deep desire
to live in peace with their Middle Eastern neighbors. I pray as well for the flood of Jews
returning to Israel in fulfillment of biblical prophesies.</div>
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I pray for the state of our world today and the pure evil
that is seen in the news reports from the killings in Nigeria to the
persecutions in Iraq and Syria to the murder of innocent school children in
Pakistan. I pray for those that don’t
have the freedoms we have to live in comfort and peace – physically or
spiritually. I pray for the refugees
that have come to seek a better home here in Germany and for the thousands that
literally surround our area. I pray for
tolerance and better laws, for peace and for justice. I pray for those who are struggling to
assimilate into the German culture, to learn the language and to find
work. The great majority don’t know
Christ nor his gospel and I pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send more
laborers into His harvest field because the workers are few. I pray for opportunities in our German class to
speak about God and how He has changed our lives.</div>
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I look and see the world around me and I pray for peace within
myself. That in the midst of so much
work to be done I would always remember that Jesus is in fact returning and
that truth and order will finally reign instead of chaos and lies. We start to study the book of Revelation in
our Monday night bible study next week and in the wake of world events it’s
both frightening and awesome what lies ahead.
I pray for my non-Christian friends and family that the Holy Spirit
would truly open their eyes so they could see truth before their time on earth
is done. Finally I pray for our marriage
that is under constant spiritual attack and for the safety and protection of
our little girl. We pray together for
wisdom to continue to raise her to love God and others.</div>
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Thank you for praying for and with us. Thank you for standing with us with your
support and for coming to our need regarding our recent deficit. God saw fit to eliminate it by the end of
2014 which was such a miracle. Thank
you for being used by God to make that happen.
We focus now on the work to be done and continue to give God glory for
all He has done and has yet to do. We
are so grateful for you!</div>
Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-61874309759166974862015-01-06T11:13:00.001-08:002015-01-06T11:13:26.631-08:00By His grace and the generosity of so many...As many of you have heard in late October we found out we were running a deficit in our support account of nearly $710 a month. We had also accumulated a $24,000 deficit in our support account over the four years we had been on the field. We were both shocked and horrified at these numbers but they neither shocked nor horrified God which was the good thing.<br />
<br />
By His grace and the generosity of so many, our $24,000+ deficit has been erased. We have also generated new monthly support starting in January of $465 with verbal commitments from several more. To say we are blown away and completely humbled by this is an understatement. I wish I could go into detail on all those who contacted us, prayed for us, went online to give a gift or sent us checks. We wanted to wait until the end of the year to give an update to see what God would do and tonight we were able to confirm it's been paid. Thank you to those who gave even when you weren't sure how God was going to provide for your own needs. You not only said you wanted to help but you actually followed through and that takes both commitment and courage, so thank you! We pray wholeheartedly that God is blessing you and your families beyond measure for reaching out and helping us. We truly believe God is our "Jehovah Jireh" and are thankful to those of you that chose to be used by Him to bless us. May our story of His provision encourage you in your struggles whatever they might be. Trust Him fully. He is worthy!<br />
<br />
The details of Gods provision for us in black and white:<br />
<br />
12/31 $100<br />
12/31 $1000<br />
12/31 $50<br />
12/30 $1000<br />
12/20 $20<br />
12/29 $25<br />
12/18 $600<br />
12/18 $500<br />
12/18 $250<br />
12/18 $200<br />
12/15 $100<br />
12/8 $50<br />
12/8 $20<br />
12/8 $4000<br />
12/3 $20<br />
12/2 $100<br />
12/1 $300<br />
12/1 $500<br />
11/25 $250<br />
11/25 $20<br />
11/25 $25<br />
11/24 $200<br />
11/21 $250<br />
11/19 $200<br />
11/19 $250<br />
11/19 $100<br />
11/18 $10000<br />
11/18 $400<br />
11/17 $1000<br />
11/17 $1500<br />
11/17 $50<br />
11/14 $100<br />
11/14 $20<br />
10/14 $1000<br />
10/24 $75<br />
10/28 $25<br />
10/30 $300<br />
10/30 $250<br />
10/30 $250<br />
Total: $25550<br />
<br />
So very grateful to God and to you.<br />
<br />Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-55603935603164888412014-12-28T08:45:00.001-08:002014-12-28T08:45:44.738-08:00Weihnachten im Schuhkarton - our final post<span style="font-family: inherit;">I sent the following to the man who joined us the Monday evening before Christmas from the local paper to give out gifts at the Sinsheim refugee camp:</span><br />
<h4>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">"The CVJM in
Meckesheim, the national church in Hilsbach und Weiler, the Hosanna gemeinde in
Heidelberg, Campus für Christus at the University, several schools and the
International chapter of MOPS in Heidelberg joined together this Christmas to
provide 284 shoeboxes for refugee children in eight camps around Heidelberg.
These included camps in Sinsheim, aided by the refugee organization SAM for
distribution, Mühlhausen, Leimen, Neckargemünd, Walldorf, Spechbach,
Reichartshausen and Helmstadt-Bargen. The response from the people that
contributed was immediate and joyful and only matched by the looks on the faces
of the children receiving the gifts the week before Christmas. Each box
contained items that would delight a child, from school supplies to dolls and
stuffed animals, gift cards and toys, books and candies. Most boxes contained
soaps and toothbrushes, warm gloves and hats. Extra items were donated to
supplement the boxes and the CVJM donated over 300 Euros to buy anything else
needed. We were touched by the outpouring of love and support for the refugees
in our area and wish them a Merry Christmas and start to their new lives in
Germa</span>ny."</h4>
It was truly our pleasure to facilitate this program and we were as a family very touched by the participation of the many organizations, churches and schools as well as the joy from the children who received the gifts. It was an eye-opening experience for those who had never seen a refugee camp and came to help to distribute the gifts. Alan and I want to do more this next year - especially in the camp that was in the worst shape of them all and just "happens" to be located in our town. We pray blessings on every person involved and every child touched by the generousity of our German neighbors and friends. Here are some of our favorite pictures.<br />
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-83125002078101612722014-11-26T13:51:00.002-08:002014-11-27T00:49:20.935-08:00Shoe-box Campaign and Deficit Update<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">I wrote last month regarding some significant developments
in our ministry that have tested our faith in God and in people. Here are
a few updates as to where things stand today...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">First was the Weihnachten im
Schuhkarton campaign:<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">The response so
far has been amazing. We have had several churches, schools, MOPS
Heidelberg and Campus für Christus already join in with us in the effort.
When I first started the campaign I was praying hard that we would
receive a box for each child at the Sinsheim camp - originally 126 kids 0-15
but then we added 16-17 year olds which brought the total up to 140. I
honestly didn't think it was possible without God orchestrating it and setting
it on the hearts of this community and so far we've already had 197 boxes
committed. This caused us to go back to the refugee camp and request two
additional camps - the one in Walldorf and the one in Helmstadt-Bargen.
This added an additional 38 children. Sunday I will speak at the
Hosanna Gemeinde in Heidelberg and request their help in getting boxes for
these remaining children leaving a 20% buffer in shoe boxes in case people
don't turn them in as they have committed or more children arrive at the camps.
Any extras will be given out to give out to new refugee families that
arrive over the next few months. Tonight I got an email from a pastor in
charge of two churches in the Sinsheim area expressing his desire to join with
us as well and asking how they can best get involved so Friday I will request additional
camps with children close by so they can participate. Please pray God
would be glorified through every person that gives, every child that receives
and every heart that is touched through the process.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Secondly was the huge and seemingly insurmountable deficit we found ourselves in about 6 weeks ago. In just 6 weeks we've seen God work through people in both words of encouragement and in lots of prayers on our behalf and in financial support as well. O</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt;">f the $24,000 needed we have been so blessed to now receive nearly $16,000 expressly toward the deficit and an extra $300 per month to help toward the $720 in monthly shortfall that our budget necessitated. If you want to help you can do so by going to www.pioneers.org/give. For a one-time gift, select "Give to a missionary", input our names and account number 136050 and your preferred method of payment. if you want to give monthly select giving options and then either the EFT, CC or Online Bill Pay option. We thank you in advance for whatever you can do. Remember - prayer is the most valuable thing anyone can give. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt;">God is so good to us and may He be given the glory for eliminating this deficit completely. </span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Things
to pray for:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">The above shoe box campaign and our remaining deficit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Chloe’s German language learning ability and for the
friendships she is beginning to make at the kindergarten. Also pray for relationships to build between
us and Chloe’s classmates parents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Alan’s continued efforts on our missions loft and the often
exhausting work he has been putting in not taking too much of a toll on him
physically<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Alan’s mom Margaret has additional tests this week to try to
determine what is causing the blockage in her bowels which has plagued her for the
better part of a year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">More volunteers are needed for the growing number of refugees
that want to learn German<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Our full-timers coming over within the next year to 18 months
– Tyler Bowman from Alabama and Nicole Demers from Delaware<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Our short-term teams coming next year – Edge from the USA and
The Great Exchange<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Several short-timers and full-timers currently in the
investigatory process of joining us in the future<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Continued healing in my moms eye<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Growth in our Monday night bible study<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">Strong relationships and partnerships to continue to form and
build between us and other missionaries, churches and student organizations in
the Heidelberg area</span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11.0pt;">A pretty major unspoken request that we’ll update you more on
when we are a bit further down the path<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-73741888613007094572014-10-23T08:54:00.002-07:002014-10-23T08:54:56.174-07:00Kindergarten, Refugees and Frightening EmailsIt's hard to believe we've been back in Germany for over five weeks. Time has flown by but we have definitely seen God at work already. <br />
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The first prayer request we had upon our return was for Chloe's immersion into Kindergarten. We prayed hard for understanding and patient teachers that would be kind to her and that she would make sweet friends she would love seeing every day. We prayed that it wouldn't be so hard on her (and us) to say good-bye when we dropped her off each day and we prayed for opportunities to get to know the parents of Chloe's school friends so we could build friendships ourselves. <br />
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God has answered our prayers in so many ways. The drop-off's are still a bit difficult but her teachers have a great way of just scooping her up into their arms and telling her, "let's go wave bye bye to mommy!" (in German of course). Then I run downstairs and go outside and wave like mad, blow kisses and disappear quick so she can get on with her day. By the time I pick her up in the afternoon she doesn't want to go home. Praise God! :) Her teachers seem very nice and understanding and they say Chloe is doing great. She has also met a little friend Lena who she loves to play with. Lena is four and lives right down the road from us. Her mom Kirsten is very nice and took the time to introduce me to a friend of hers who just happened to live in Atlanta for 9 years. She speaks very good English. Last night we had our first "Eltern-abend" which is when all the parents get together at the kindergarten with the teachers and hear all the news, what's upcoming, how they can get involved, what their children's days are like, how they celebrate birthday's, etc. Alan stayed home with Chloe so I could go and I really enjoyed the time. Unfortunately I didn't understand more than about 60% of what was said but I left having several questions answered and meeting lots of other parents which was my goal. <br />
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The second prayer request was for a new bible study we wanted to start in our home. We wanted it to be a multi-generational, multi-church, weekly get-together and from all accounts this is what we are already beginning to see. Since we started three weeks ago, we have had 6-8 consistently each week which has been nice. Three different churches are represented and the ages range from the low 20's to the mid 50's. We have lots of discussion (and sometimes strong debate!) over the topics raised in the book, "More Than a Carpenter" and then enjoy a time of prayer and fellowship after. We speak equally in German and in English. New people continue to come each week and that is exciting.<br />
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Thirdly I prayed for Gods direction as to how to spend my time once Chloe enrolled in Kindergarten. Monday's are taken up with cleaning, laundry, cooking at the prep for the bible study. Tuesday's and Friday's I was attending MOPS but didn't feel this was the direction God was taking me this year so I decided to research the German class at the refugee camp taught by an older German gentleman from our church who I admire greatly. He was thrilled with the possibility of me helping as he'd been doing it alone for some time. I told him I would come and check things out and see how it went. Apparently my bad German translated to him that I would be there every time they met for the foreseeable! :) At least this is what he tells anyone who asks now. <br />
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Initially I will admit to being a bit fearful as I walked into the grounds of the refugee camp housing more than 500 refugees. I was alone and most of the people housed at the camp are trafficked into the country in one form or another. The conditions are not good and the frustration from the residents with the crowded conditions and endless waiting is evident. Still, I eventually found where I needed to go and met up with the teacher to get instructions. He warned me to not share about my faith or beliefs because they wanted to keep the German class strictly about teaching German. They do this because so many Muslims attend and they don't want them to be frightened off from attending. I completely understood this concern and assured him it wouldn't be an issue. That first class the room was full - seven men from Gambia, a mother and her two young teenagers from Syria, two other Syrians and 3 Iraq refugees attended. I worked solely with the Gambians and continue with them each week. They are precious. So willing to try to learn. I have met one who is especially nice - his name is Musa. Please pray he can grasp the language and that by doing so it would help to improve his life. I know little to nothing about each of the refugees and hope that stronger relationships will be built in the weeks ahead.<br />
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As I was walking to my car I remembered I had some blankets and some stuffed animals I was going to take to the Frei Evangelical Gemeinde in Heidelberg ear-marked for refugees. Since I was already at a camp I thought that I might as well take them into the administration offices and leave them there. When I was unpacking the trunk a little girl who was 2 1/2 approached me at the car. In my hand I held a plastic bag full of Chloe's stuffed animals - most in new or nearly new condition. I fished out a small dog and then looked to find the little girls mom to see if I could give it to her. She smiled and nodded and the little girls eyes just lit up. When her older sister (maybe 6) saw this, she came running to the car and also wanted a stuffed animal. I asked her which was her favorite and she said, "all!". I said, do you have friends you could share them with? Her mother then replied, "I have eight children." I said, well then, take the whole bag. I asked her if she could use the blankets and she said yes so I left them with her. She then asked me if I had a rug or if I could look for one for her. I said I would. Her name was Stella and her daughter's name was Sorga. Please pray I can build a relationship with their family and help them in whatever small way I can. By the way, I found a rug in our cellar that we weren't using that I plan to take tomorrow. Praise God for that! :)<br />
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Alan's work at the CVJM and the missions loft continues but I can tell he needs encouragement and wonders often if all his blood, sweat and tears will be worth it in the end. I try to tell him it will but it's still hard sometimes. His goal is to get the loft finished in time for Nicole to move in next summer. <br />
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I guess the biggest thing we've encountered in the last week was an email from the Pioneers finance department in the UK telling us we were in deficit nearly 14,000 pounds. That is nearly 22,000!! My initial response was a combination of horror and frustration as I could pull up at least a dozen emails asking for a financial statement showing monies paid to us versus monies coming in over the last 4 years. Higher priority items always trumped this request and now they hit us with this deficit which from all accounts seems insurmountable on human terms. Fortunately for us we don't work on human terms. Our boss owns the cattle on a thousand hills and promises to provide for all our needs. That's the good news! The bad news is I have to do what I haven't had to do in the last four years and that is go out and ask for funds. I hate asking for money. Hate it. Horrid. I think there should be an organization that closely monitors missionaries work and then fund raises for them (sort of like the International mission board). Still, I've written the letters and now have to send out the cards to our faithful supporters asking that they dig deep to try to keep us here. I can already see the stress from knowing this deficit is hanging over our heads between Alan and I but really either we trust God or we don't. That's the bottom line. I choose to trust. <br />
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Thank you for your continued interest, partnership with us and especially your prayers. We need them every hour of every day!<br />
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-26859211493151270552014-09-23T14:28:00.000-07:002014-09-23T14:28:34.488-07:00Home Assignment - Work and play and the start of FallAfter nearly two months of home assignment we returned to Germany last week ready to begin again. Fall is definitely in the air here as in stark contrast to the weather in Georgia. This was the first time we'd visited in late summer and both Alan and Chloe paid for it with numerous bug bites and bee stings. The wasps were out in force in Georgia this year. Poor Alan rather unfortunately discovered he was also very allergic to bee stings and after his second or third sting my dad went and bought him a ridiculously expensive EPI pen for emergencies because he absolutely refused to stop working in the barn which is where multiple nests were discovered.<br />
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Still, we made it back alive, not too sun burned or worse for the wear. The time with family and friends was priceless to us. We did so much that it's hard to remember it all but big highlights for me were seeing my Uncle Ron who came down for a week from Pennsylvania, my Aunt Kay also came down for a day from Ellijay with cousins Stacy from Atlanta, Joan, Marybeth, Jimbo and Dina from Athens and my Uncle Ray and Aunt MaryAnn and their children Julie and Michael and Michael's wife Holly from Rhode Island and Vermont. Other memorable non-ministry events were fishing (well Alan fished, Chloe and I swam, walked and explored), swimming with Chloe's cousins and multiple cousin play dates with my sisters, going to the zoo in Atlanta, golfing several times and meals out with good friends. Ministry wise Alan participated in several evangelistic outreaches including one with WFBC and two Great Exchange events. We also had a week long debrief in Bogart at a missions house where a counselor from Atlanta who was also a former missionary came to work with us. In addition we met with a lot of supporters, spoke at WFBC for their global missions update and traveled to Swainsboro to speak at Hawhammock church where our team from the Great Exchange this summer originated. I also had the sad experience of attending a funeral of a fellow missionary from Augusta, Georgia who I had met and we had worked alongside in Heidelberg. <br />
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Being back is good. I dreaded it at first because sometimes I feel like I am on two parallel lives. One in Georgia with my family, friends and sending church and the second in Germany. I desperately want to live in Georgia again but I also feel called and a strong pull to finish the work here in Germany. It's tough feeling sawed in two. Folks naturally ask us what's ahead for us when we return and this is what we've said. Alan wants to finish the missions loft at the CVJM hopefully in time for Nicole to move in when she arrives next July/August. He wants to start a bible/book study out of our home each week and he's focusing on our full time arrivals next year (Tyler in addition to Nicole). He's also trying to arrange a Great Exchange trip to Cambridge, England for either 2015 or 2016 and he's excited to welcome back the second Great Exchange team here in Heidelberg in June.<br />
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I have one primary goal and lots of secondary ones. Primarily I want to successfully see Chloe attending German Kindergarten without anxiety or tears in a safe, fun, challenging and sweet environment. I know I'm praying for a lot but I can't tell you how much more stressed I am about this than anything else in my own life. She is such a treasure to me and we've literally (as my mother would say) pulled this child of ours from pillar to post in her short three plus years. She's more well traveled than most adults I know but she's also had to be torn apart from her grandparents, cousins, friends, fellow team mates and just about everybody except us over the past 3 years. She goes to Georgia, absolutely adores seeing her cousins, aunts and grandparents every day and then we get on a flight and tell her she'll see them in 6 months to a year (how long is that mama?). Same with her nana in England. The teams that come that she gets attached to just leave. The TMI team from Australia and New Zealand was especially hard on her. She just cried and cried when they left. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger... does that apply to a three year old?<br />
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So that's primary. Secondarily are any preparations for full-timers and our short-term teams (Great Exchange and possibly also Edge). I want to support Alan through the book study, continue to manage our home and finances and supporter contacts and I really want to focus this year on our marriage and having some quality time just the two of us. We discovered at our debrief how really important that is for us (despite the associated cost of babysitters). <br />
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So another busy year. It might not seem this way to some but I have greatly reduced my workload in multiple areas and for this I am grateful that I had the courage to say "no" to at least a few things. I am a work in progress on this. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for the aforementioned items. We know lots of people pray for us and we are so thankful for you. In all things we want to bring God glory and we want to do His will here. This is always at the forefront of our thoughts and prayers. <br />
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-58148923487996498202014-07-13T15:51:00.001-07:002014-07-13T15:51:04.518-07:00Work Days and Sightseeing, Birthday Parties and Fireworks - The Great Exchange Final Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX4fEdewHWjeZ_iNFWTWMBk6KS72CF8s5U3HTUINeWsjIzK7PjDheFP8fy-fuoc0eujmNVknXdNTeeniQ7PGmcfzHmBvkuGDOI4mD6xglDve5Nw_K4wVk_y-8uL29FIZ6KniEXoTfJK0/s1600/IMG_6795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtX4fEdewHWjeZ_iNFWTWMBk6KS72CF8s5U3HTUINeWsjIzK7PjDheFP8fy-fuoc0eujmNVknXdNTeeniQ7PGmcfzHmBvkuGDOI4mD6xglDve5Nw_K4wVk_y-8uL29FIZ6KniEXoTfJK0/s1600/IMG_6795.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPRWdZ0jMfqjZMKRnJufnIp0aY8XCD0J0icLa1vc2Ld-Hr-Rh53GjBC3hcZlAvwdXXvFaQ950B9mCX6LZXdm9R15cRoTa9nMJYhT32_He3fSF917IgbUL_LFYeuZSX8OaHzPqasJKCqo/s1600/IMG_6796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPRWdZ0jMfqjZMKRnJufnIp0aY8XCD0J0icLa1vc2Ld-Hr-Rh53GjBC3hcZlAvwdXXvFaQ950B9mCX6LZXdm9R15cRoTa9nMJYhT32_He3fSF917IgbUL_LFYeuZSX8OaHzPqasJKCqo/s1600/IMG_6796.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1k54VI3VC3mB9aSwGix49rBcCqPSenvfVm1XCOn_x5Q7hrtYOzx4nTATx0y_aZjS1WAF9AK9a_WLvvJJiu0qOpOYQPm8O7XI5EaI3QGg-Xoh-ioAEynA_5MZT4nA7jjPVG74EDFUtxg/s1600/IMG_6700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1k54VI3VC3mB9aSwGix49rBcCqPSenvfVm1XCOn_x5Q7hrtYOzx4nTATx0y_aZjS1WAF9AK9a_WLvvJJiu0qOpOYQPm8O7XI5EaI3QGg-Xoh-ioAEynA_5MZT4nA7jjPVG74EDFUtxg/s1600/IMG_6700.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxA6xFPuLzRD6mmZtA80hM2_GBxYGufLcfxfW8fgMhLELFWSfbqZKe9_UjLPwL90RHBFzIxo_mTTkoe8IEWDhpvWSOrvJBuvOsY7b9N9v66CjHpCZhDxNd1tHrCWfxC2Sx64FADViVQjM/s1600/IMG_6696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxA6xFPuLzRD6mmZtA80hM2_GBxYGufLcfxfW8fgMhLELFWSfbqZKe9_UjLPwL90RHBFzIxo_mTTkoe8IEWDhpvWSOrvJBuvOsY7b9N9v66CjHpCZhDxNd1tHrCWfxC2Sx64FADViVQjM/s1600/IMG_6696.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-ho-WHvOR_2lJnlQa9FcXThx74wUmySsM_BGsLfxSh0LoxPaTeZflB4XlAb0PgoRVT_gDuJdiOQ4mv-VJ4FGc2Qlas5IOBFFBFL25dpVC6xaPSBjGJj0pRPNRrziL0m0s28E3cmNgok/s1600/IMG_8083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh-ho-WHvOR_2lJnlQa9FcXThx74wUmySsM_BGsLfxSh0LoxPaTeZflB4XlAb0PgoRVT_gDuJdiOQ4mv-VJ4FGc2Qlas5IOBFFBFL25dpVC6xaPSBjGJj0pRPNRrziL0m0s28E3cmNgok/s1600/IMG_8083.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3D4NdKchtRa_9-RzU4SAWP41r-IMQ0x1E1jhWU5iJkUXCeNk-vxdQlSgZMkG8R1QcPmvgX29yHuajWpw1WNxqneO68swdmaQpH2VTKCr-G11b1vYISnsqmCEIj5sDhAc-cvWwf-U1r4/s1600/IMG_6692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3D4NdKchtRa_9-RzU4SAWP41r-IMQ0x1E1jhWU5iJkUXCeNk-vxdQlSgZMkG8R1QcPmvgX29yHuajWpw1WNxqneO68swdmaQpH2VTKCr-G11b1vYISnsqmCEIj5sDhAc-cvWwf-U1r4/s1600/IMG_6692.JPG" height="200" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxNeq4d4vzvC8crgm8euEUZGFWvdLmLLEjuwknMCJmtYH_DmA13tjxvgTQV_3tKohD-VclGxbbcPOIS9zCX6zTCiRCxK8uWNVWFX3F4K7kWszZWLT5PLa1hDQqPtPQijb4yh9oKrjV2I/s1600/IMG_6705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKxNeq4d4vzvC8crgm8euEUZGFWvdLmLLEjuwknMCJmtYH_DmA13tjxvgTQV_3tKohD-VclGxbbcPOIS9zCX6zTCiRCxK8uWNVWFX3F4K7kWszZWLT5PLa1hDQqPtPQijb4yh9oKrjV2I/s1600/IMG_6705.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
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Wednesday of this week the team took a day off of evangelism and the majority went to work at the CVJM to help in the continued construction of our missions loft. After work, Klaus and Trudi and their two daughters Johanna and Julia (with her husband Boris and two precious children) helped to host a dinner and fellowship for the team. Klaus and Trudi have been absolutely 100% supportive of our work here in Germany and have never missed a chance to host team members, assist in work days, prepare meals or barbeque's and allow us to take part in camps and church services. We are so thankful for the entire family. <br />
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Saturday was our final day together so we went to Dilsberg for the morning for shopping, pictures and cake and coffee at the café there. We've taken every team that has ever visited us to Dilsberg as it's my favorite little walled city. The shop keeper even opened up an hour and a half early for us so we could shop before heading to Schwetzingen palace and gardens that afternoon. </div>
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Alan and I have never visited Schwetzingen palace before and although the tour was incredibly boring the gardens were gorgeous and HUGE! My mom and dad would love them. So much attention to detail for one prince electorate and his wife. Afterward the team was able to do some shopping in Schwetzingen and have something to eat before returning to their apartments to rest. <br />
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At nine o'clock that evening the team came over for Charlie's first birthday party. Charlie is the son of Joni and Matthew, Jon and Diane's oldest daughter and her family. It was great they were able to come with Charlie and we didn't want to miss the opportunity to have a little cake and ice cream to celebrate his first birthday and allow him to play in his smash cake. He especially liked the balloon animals and presents. A German world cup Jersey was amongst his favorites!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiex1dVDf_5VFfVSytUBd_s5emxFu4rZhE3Q0X1LA2GYPkTQDy7uvPwibEw8XtTWzYf5DJIcP78gC2RXWXvCLKiEixQC9RYDIS29yJXu9IUhoQJhInhJ8rbHqUFQf41fiUpNS7TmsQEn98/s1600/IMG_8436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiex1dVDf_5VFfVSytUBd_s5emxFu4rZhE3Q0X1LA2GYPkTQDy7uvPwibEw8XtTWzYf5DJIcP78gC2RXWXvCLKiEixQC9RYDIS29yJXu9IUhoQJhInhJ8rbHqUFQf41fiUpNS7TmsQEn98/s1600/IMG_8436.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a>After cake we went to Heidelberg to watch the castle illumination and fireworks. It was a nice display and we didn't get caught in too much traffic leaving which was good. The team departed this morning around 5:30 and we just got word they made it back to Georgia safely. All in all it was a wonderful, blessed and rich week. Thank you to all who prayed for us. <br />
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-37971576800954269442014-07-13T14:26:00.000-07:002014-07-13T14:26:30.104-07:00Evangelism Days - The Great ExchangeMonday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week the team from the Great Exchange in Georgia spent the early morning at prayer breakfasts at the Capelle (Monday) and Hosanna Gemeinde's (Thursday and Friday). We all felt very moved by Gods presence in these meetings. After they were concluded, we went to the Universitätsplatz where we setup our information tables and did surveys from roughly 10am until 4pm each day. We prayed really hard that the forecasted rain would hold off on and for the most part it did. Tuesday we left early because the rain made things miserable but we had great weather Monday, Thursday and Friday. <br />
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The team brought several hundred copies of the book, "More than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell. By the end of the week we had given them all out so please pray the books will yield great fruit amongst the students that read them. On Monday we completed 72 surveys and only 9 said they believed Jesus to be the son of God and that because of the grace He pours out they will go to Heaven. Not because they were good people but only because of Christ. On Thursday, 58 surveys were completed and we talked to only five believers. We don't know yet the counts for Friday (although we do know more surveys were completed than on any other day) but when we have the percentages we'll report them here. Overall it was a blessed week with over 300 conversations with students about Christ. Please pray the Holy Spirit will continue to work in each life.<br />
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Thursday night we attended the Campus Crusade church service at the Hosanna gemeinde. The sermon that night was excellent and we were able to share with the students about the Great Exchange and encourage them to come and take part the next day. On Friday we had over a dozen students and church members from our partner churches and Campus come and do surveys with us and we were very happy about that.<br />
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Here are some pictures of our church services on Sunday, prayer breakfasts through the week and discussions with students. <br />
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Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812752649426580263.post-31353011956423542014-07-06T13:16:00.002-07:002014-07-06T13:16:58.814-07:00Great Exchange Day 3 - Hosanna and the CVJM church servicesToday we enjoyed two church services. The first was in Heidelberg at a church called Hosanna and the second was in the evening at our church, the CVJM. Both churches are partnering with us for the Great Exchange and both sets of pastors and their wives were able to come to the welcome barbeque at our home on Friday night which was nice. Jon did the preaching at both services. He had a German translator at Hosanna who did quite well and Sarah Lee (our former Venture student who fell in love and married a German and now lives in Münster) translated for us in the evening. Sarah Lee has been visiting her husbands family who live in the same town as we do for the past week and it was great to have her both at the barbeque and at the church service. She will come and do surveys with us through the week and she is experienced too - having participated in the Great Exchange while she was attending UGA and Watkinsville First Baptist.<br />
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Jon's preaching spoke on II Corinthians chapter 5 where Paul talks about the gospel being the exchange God offers each person. He exchanges our sinful selves with the righteousness of Jesus making it possible for us to be saved. We all know we aren't good people but the number one answer to "If God were to ask you why he should let you into heaven, what would you say?" in these surveys we will be doing this week is: "because I try to be a good person." At least this is what we've found at all the Universities where the Great Exchange has been hosted in the states and also in the surveys Alan and I have done here with our teams in Heidelberg. Jesus took our sin, the wages of which were death, and he died on the cross so that we could live - not just after death in Heaven but also experience real life here on earth. That's the gospel. Jon shared his testimony of coming to Christ, investigating his claims and recognizing He was the only way we can come to have a relationship with God. Despite what this relativistic world tries to tell you, there is no other way. Everyone seemed to enjoy the message and we had good turnouts at both churches. <br />
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Here are some pictures from the day:<br />
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Right now it is raining. It is supposed to rain all week. Please pray it will not rain during the hours of 9am CEST and 4pm CEST which is when we'll be surveying students in the University square.Alan and Mary Rathbonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13070527985641640956noreply@blogger.com0