Dear friends,
after six wonderful weeks in the US, we made it back home well and with all our luggage!
Many thanks to all of you who made these six weeks such a great time for us!
Our time in Fayetteville, NC, where dear Ann Owen hosted us was such a treat for heart and
soul. It is always hard to leave Fayetteville, I feel so much at home there. I even enjoyed the hot
weather, while Mark was very thankful for air conditioning.
The beach wedding in southern Georgia was beautiful, the announced scattered thunderstorms
were scattered somewhere else. For this occasion the Acostas, Cathrin's host family in
St.Marys, even moved out of their home for several days so that our whole family could be
together in one place. We as a whole family had not been together in two years.
Cathrin's churches and friends from St.Marys and Covington did a great job in preparing and
carrying out the many big and little things for the wedding.
Cathrin and Mike Wilbanks made their home at Mike's place near his parents. We were very
thankful for the miraculous recovery of Mike's father after his heart attack earlier this year. He
was able to come to the wedding which would not have been the same without him. Cathrin is
now working at the same place as before her time in St.Marys.
On our way up north, we had a short but meaningful visit with church friends and family near
Bloomington, IN, ate lunch at the Corner Cafe in Darlington where we visited Magdalena's
grave.
The Fourth of July weekend we spent in Saranac, MI, with our dear church family there. Mark's
parents even came down for that.
Then we went back with them to Irons for several days with Mary and Rachel. Joyann enjoyed preparing meals for us and having a family around the table once more. During that time, Don and Joyann (with Mark and Mary) looked at several places for independent living in Grand Rapids and made their decision to move to the one they chose on September 4.
In the meantime they have settled into their new place, and it sounds as if it was a good choice.

The following weekend we spent with Doris and Chad at their home in Detroit they had just
bought a few days before we came. 40,000 $ for a nice house sounds almost too good to be
true. In Detroit you can find something like this. Detroit really impressed me. The city is in a very
bad state, and there are many people who won't let it die. Among them are Doris and Chad.
They are the only white people in an all black neighborhood, and Doris' colleagues at work (a
credit union) think she is crazy for living there and shopping at Aldi's where an armed guard
watches over the parking lot. But there is no safer place than in God's hands.
Visiting our dear friend Anna Richards in Pennsylvania was very special, and also seeing dear
Fern Crabster after her move to independent living.

All this time we were hoping for Lisa to get one of the 65,000 visas, but she was not among the
chosen ones. We tried everything to help her get a visa, but nothing worked. Then God just did
a miracle! The University of Maryland wanted her back, and now she is enrolled in a second
master's course (urban planning) and working for the university in research. All deadlines had
passed, but the department head made it possible (with God's intervention, of course).
There also is a young man in Lisa’s life, David, a meteorologist she has known for quite a while
from church. We met him and really like him, and both of them are glad that Lisa can stay.

Susi moved back to Gupf to the first apartment she had twelve years ago. In a few days she will
begin her first few months of work, followed by three months of college. This will alternate for
three years. She would appreciate prayers for courage and perseverance. Being 33 years old
and a long time away from school, she is a bit nervous.

Coming home was very hard. First of all, Jana and I were homesick for America. And then we
came into a very difficult legal situation with our immediate neighbors. 21 years ago, when we
bought this house, the notary public had failed to make a certain entry into the land register, and
this had gone unnoticed until now. But the Lord gave wisdom and patience; the situation could
be clarified and settled without going to court, after three very challenging weeks of constantly
asking the Lord for peace of mind.

Doris and Chad came to visit for two weeks, and had another family member with them who will
introduce him or herself in March.

Jana had a good start of school. She is growing up in many ways, and life is becoming easier.

School started on September 2, after two weeks of prep work, training sessions and other
meetings. The first weeks of school were very chaotic until everything had found its place and
every student knew what language to take and on which level. I hope that I will have the exact
number of students in my two German classes soon. There might still be some changes.
There are a lot of new students, some came quite unexpectedly because their families had to
leave the country they were serving in, like Pakistan and Afghanistan. These transitions are very
hard for our students. Every year there is a big “turnover” of students. It is our prayer that our
students grow deep roots in Christ since they often cannot grew family or culture roots as
children of missionaries (MKs).

Mark did one trip to Romania and is planning some more. But there is a very difficult situation concerning his co-operation with GAIN. Lately, the planning and organizing for the use of the truck have been very confusing. Mark needs prayer for wisdom and good discernment for the meetings they set up to clarify this. The structure and the logistics of his
work might have to undergo some vital changes, unless he gets a clear word about when and for how long he can use the GAIN truck. There are people at the other end of the line who depend on the aid that is all packed and waiting to be hauled.

The church in Weil am Rhein he is helping to re-establish is making good progress. Being located in a multicultural neighborhood, they are very open to help in the present situation we are facing. Germany is being flooded with refugees, as you all know if you watch the news. Many Muslim countries are “closed” to the gospel, so God is sending those people to us. That is one way of looking at this. Except for finding Christ, there are no real solutions to these problems. Please

pray for wisdom and good ideas to help.

This letter is quite long, I hope you were able to read to the end and maybe open the pictures I attached. This is now possible with our faster internet.

Thank you for being our friends and for all your prayers. 

--

Celebrate beauty wherever it is.

Speak truthful words of encouragement whenever you can.

Add a touch of hope wherever you go. M.W.

Dear friends,

here is the promised letter with our itinerary for our trip this summer. We pray that God will grant His blessing and protection.

(For all the European recipients: you can skip this part.)

June 10: arrival at Washington-Dulles where a rental car is reserved

June 11-21: Fayetteville, NC, Ann Owen invited us to stay with her so that Joan's house would not be overcrowded
June 12-14: EBF conference at Church of the Open Door

June 21-22: visit Marilyn Fabian in South Carolina

June 22-28: St.Marys, GA

June 27: Cathrin's and Mike's wedding

June 28-30: Covington, GA, spending some time with Mike's family and C's and M's friends

July 1-2: Standford Baptist Church, IN

July 2-6: Saranac, MI, Gallilee Baptist Church; time with friends and family

July 6-10: Irons, MI, Mark's parents and Mary

July 10-13: Detroit, MI, Doris and Chad

July 13-14: McConnellsburg, PA, visiting Anna Richards (and the Hodges?)

July 14-22: Maryland, with Lisa in Beltsville

July 19: EP Church in Annapolis, weekend at the Skinners'

July 22: back to Germany (23)

For our time in Fayetteville, I will prepare an online calendar where meetings and invitations can be posted, and send it out to those in that area.

Now some updates:

Mark is planning 2-3 trips to Romania, about 5 days each, starting tomorrow. He cannot use the GAIN truck as much as before and is looking into alternatives, preferably with Romanians involved.

Susi passed the test she needed to be accepted at the college in Lörrach. She will start school and work in October. Also, she is going to move back to Gupf to the apartment she had 12 years ago, next door to us. We are all very glad that we have grown towards such a good relationship with each other.

Lisa got the job she had wanted most and enjoys it very much. Please pray that she will get her permanent work visa her company applied for. There has been an unusually big rush on the 65,000 visas that are given out, so they decided to do something like a lottery to pull out this number from the 230,000 that applied, which - humanly speaking - reduces her chances of getting the visa to 1:3. If her company's check has been cashed by the middle of May it means that they will consider her application and very likely give her the visa. We do not want to think about the "if not". That would mean that she has to leave the US this summer.

Cathrin and Mike decided to make their home at Mike's house in Covington, GA. His dad has just come out of a very tough time after a heart attack, and they want to stay near Mike's family. We are glad for this decision. Wedding preparations are keeping them and others very busy. It will be a beach wedding near St.Marys, GA.

Doris and Chad are in the process of buying a house in Detroit. Prices are so low (30-40 thousand $) that they could pay it off in a very short time. They might get the one they applied for, but it is not sure yet. They would appreciate prayers for wisdom in this matter.

Jana and I are counting the weeks/days until we fly to the US. Jana loves US history and geography. We are planning to visit sites and places along this line, especially while in Maryland at the end of our trip. In the meantime, we have to wrap up the last few weeks of school and organize everything for our absence. We still need someone to stay at our house with Jack, our dog, and Jana's bunnies and guinea pigs. The ponies will be with the people who own the little white pony and will be well taken care of.

Please contact us about any ideas for us along the trip. As soon as we are in the US, we will re-activate our US cell phone and send the number to those who might need or want it.

We thank you for being part of our ministry and hope to see many of you soon.

Maria Walker
Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and language, and people, and nation.

"Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."

Dear friends, when I read this verse in Zechariah 8:23 I decided to make it my prayer that people would say this to me. The situation described in this verse is a ratio of 10:1. Ten people will grab one Jew by his garment and plead with him to show them the way to the Lord. We know this will happen in the future, it is a prophetic word that will come true. But I know that God wants us to be light and salt right now where we are.

Sadly, it is often in times of extreme trouble that people (and even we ourselves) turn to God. The hunger for God's Word is the strongest in places and times where nothing else provides comfort for the soul. Whether it is Romania with poor and neglected senior citizens or Gypsies - or in Southern Italy where thousands of refugees from all over Northern Africa are squeezed together after a life-threatening sea voyage in little nutshells. Every day many don't make it. With no earthly hope left, many seek the Lord and find Him. What a challenge for the small evangelical churches that reach out to them!

We are glad that we can help by sending truck loads of clothes and other things they need. And those who receive these things are stunned that there actually are people who care!

Our country is in the process of providing temporary quarters for those African and also Syrian refugees. Every county is turning some places into shelters, like gyms, former military quarters, old school buildings, etc. But not all Germans want these people. Many are afraid of these strange and desperate people. Who knows if they are not under-cover terrorists? There is a lot of fear on both sides, and there have been bad incidents of physical attacks and arson.

Does anyone have answers and solutions for these issues? I don't. Only God has a plan - even for these unwanted people. He knows what it is like to be unwanted.

The humanitarian aid we collect is in great demand, of course.

Besides all these challenges and his work in Romania, Mark is also still helping to re-establish our former church in Weil am Rhein who had to give up their facilities and had joined a church in another town years ago. Now they are having regular Sunday meetings in a part of town where the majority has a migratory background. Not many Germans live there, and this is a great chance to bridge the gap both between ethnic groups and spiritually.

 

And now some news from our family:

First of all, Mark, Jana and I will be in the US from June 10 to July 22. As soon as our itinerary is all set up we will send out another letter.

Jana got a very good report card for the first semester. Not all "A"s, but for her this is marvelous. She has a wonderful (male) teacher who has the gift of bringing out the best in his students. Her reading and writing are improving with the special program for her to learn to deal with dyslexia, and she still has a special math class for herself and another student until she has caught up with the others.

Lisa's job situation (in Maryland) is still open. Right now she is working for a large company where she does office work for their landscape architects. She could apply for a permanent job there, but this company does not do the kind of projects she would like to do. But she is very thankful that she is earning enough money to keep herself going and for all the experience she is gathering along the way. She had some job interviews and has to wait for the outcome. Her problem is that she does not have US citizenship. Her future employer has to apply for a work visa, and this costs him about 5,000 $. She needs to find a permanent job within the next few weeks, otherwise she has to go back to Germany this summer.

Susi is still unemployed. But with the unemployment benefits she can manage. In a few weeks she will hear if a great opportunity is going to work out. She would work for a weather forecast company as a student and do her bachelor's in international business management at the same time. We are glad that her health has been getting much better after they fixed that hole in her heart in 2013.

Cathrin and Mike are still in the process of planning their wedding (last weekend of June, Saint Marys, GA) and making decisions about their future. And living almost 5 hours apart does not make this easier.

From Doris and Chad in Detroit, MI, I hear that they are doing fine. They are both starting to work on their master's degree this year.

My school is going well now. I am teaching 2 advanced German classes (grades 5-8) with lots of opportunities to share my faith in Christ. Some students come from non-Christians homes and are sent to this school for missionary kids because of its high standards. I also do a lot of other things for the school, translating and organizing where my German is helpful. All this keeps me quite busy. But I still treasure my bilingual Wednesday morning CBSI bible study, where I translate back and forth for the opening and the lecture part. This is a great opportunity to reach German ladies and help them grow in the Lord. Some just come because it is bilingual and they can improve their English - and find the Lord along the way. And for me it is a valuable time of fellowship within my own small group of missionary wives. Kandern has a large English speaking population because of the Black Forest Academy. Quite a few missionaries who travel a lot or who can work from here choose this for their home base so that their children can attend this school without living in a dorm. Several missions have their German or European headquarters here. But most BFA students live in dorms. Some of their parents are working in very dangerous locations and are glad to have their children at a safe place.

And now I would like to add a few thankful thoughts on a part of our family life I have not written anything about so far.

With always enough money to live, we could not do things other families did for recreation and fun. But God has blessed us with a variety of animals in our own "family amusement park". This was not only fun and work but also a great playground to learn responsibility and invite friends. Over the years, we have had birthday parties, school field trips, youth group outings and visiting friends, and God reached out to all of them. For teenage girls it is wonderful to hug a big dog or a pony instead of hugging a bad choice. Around animals the heart of young and older people opens up more easily. Our animals were part of deep conversations and often heard the gospel shared. The ponies' manes dried many tears, and their ears heard laughter and shouts of joy. 

Last summer we had to part with our white mare Lea. She had had joint problems and suddenly could not walk anymore. Our girls had bought her with their own money 18 years ago. They had saved every penny for years. And living on the edge of a small farm town with pastures for free, this was affordable even for us. This pony turned out to be the most reliable, faithful and friendly creature. She was a big help in raising our girls, and she was my own physical therapist for many years, strengthening my muscles and easing my back pains. Even though it was very sad to let her go, we are very grateful for the many blessings God gave us through this animal and all the others as well. Years ago, this was also the starting point for our daughter Cathrin to become a therapist. We still have Avalon, the brown pony, and keep him together with another pony whose owners share the work.

But we could also talk many girls out of wanting a pony for themselves, showing them what it all involved. And it was highly appreciated by girls and parents that we shared our animals with them instead. Everything we own is from the Lord and belongs to Him. He can use it to His glory and to draw souls towards Him.

God bless you all, and may He use all of us to cause people to seek and find Him.

Maria and family

Dear friends, you have not heard from us for a very long time. Every time I was going to start writing, there was something coming up that I wanted to include in the letter. So now finally I will write, no matter what else could be included in a few days. Mark just came home from the 300th tour to Romania, not all done by him but many of them since 1990. Everything went well. Not quite so on a trip in April. Mark's co-driver fell asleep on their way home and ended up skidding along the railing of a bridge. How the truck could get back on the road with just one hind wheel of the trailer hanging over the bridge - only God know how His angels did it. They had only one empty container. If there had been any load, they would have gone down the side of the bridge. Nobody got hurt, no other vehicle was involved - at 2am in the morning the road was clear. The Hungarian police did not make a big fuss about the spilled oil and diesel. The two guys came home by train and had to leave the totaled truck behind. The truck belonged to Global Aid Network, the Campus Crusade for Christ humanitarian aid branch. Some of the loss was covered by their insurance, and they were allowed to sell the still usable parts since the insurance company could not haul the wreck here. This way enough money came together to purchase a 2-year-old truck in good condition. In May, Mark experienced God's protection again. There was a minor accident with a truck whose driver tried to put the blame on Mark, but the police had been watching and confirmed Mark's version of the story. Mark's truck had only a scratch, but the other had more damage, both from taking Mark's right of way and an accident he had had the day before, all of which he tried to blame Mark for. Mark was even able to share the gospel with the man and the police. For the past seven years, Mark had worked for a trucking company for several weeks each summer where he not only supplemented the weak dollar but also shared Christ with co-workers and customers. This summer, the company had just hired two new drivers, so they do not need him for now. Mark won't be bored, there are enough things to do here that have been waiting for long time. And we have never worried about money, that is up to our Heavenly Employer. Our "old church" in Weil am Rhein, that had joined a church in another town when they had could not find a new location in town several years ago, is starting anew, and Mark is helping them. They have had worship services once a month which are attended well and they are planning their official start for October. In May, I was in the US for a week of "graduation tourism", Cathrin's in Arizona (where we all met, including Mike, Lisa and Doris) and Lisa's in Maryland. We had a wonderful time of celebration and fellowship. Cathrin started working right away, she now lives in Saint Marys, GA, about 5 hours away from Mike in Covington. But distance could not harm their relationship! They got engaged two weeks ago! We are very glad and thankful. Lisa, who does not have dual citizenship, is still waiting for her work authorization. There are several job opportunities, but she cannot pursue any of them until the paperwork is through. She is trusting the Lord that either one of these jobs is still available or another opening will be there. Until then she is busy helping the park project in downtown Annapolis get started which had been her master's thesis. Financially God helped her by letting her get an award of the University of Maryland for being an outstanding teaching assistant, which came along with 1250 dollars. This covers the time until she can start working. Isn't that amazing? Doris and Chad are doing fine. The inner city youth ministry with its summer activities and camps keeps them very busy. Doris' job at a credit union is also going well. Susi quit working for the company that had hired her. They did not give her the promised training, but expected the full work load of her anyway. She is now looking for a new job. Jana will be a 5th grader in a few weeks. She is very glad to leave the bilingual school behind and just be with the English speaking students at the middle school. She has several summer assignments which she is doing quite well. Even though she still has to catch up, especially in math, she is doing a great job. Starting this September - our school year does not start until Sept. 2 - I will be teaching German at the BFA middle school. Shannon will repeat 8th grade and have a different aide so that it won't be all the same. And the person they found for her is just perfect. So I am free to fill in as a German teacher for the advanced levels. With all the news about wars and threats, I think it is important to celebrate peace: our peace with God, with family and friends, with neighbors and other countries. And our hope for today and tomorrow! Thank you for being our friends, may God richly bless you. The Walkers in Gupf

Dear EBF Family,

 

 

Last week I was driving a 40 ton truck (affectionately called the "Black Knight") to Romania.

We delivered much needed goods to two mission stations.

 

On our way back home, my co-driver fell asleep at the wheel and ran the truck off the road.

 

We smashed into a bridge and came very close to falling off of it - 30 feet into a creek.

 

But the LORD did not allow that to happen!

 

My co-driver and myself did not even get a scratch. I was in the bunk sleeping and the security net did a great job. My co-driver was on the driving  side of the truck and the seat belt held well!

 

But the truck is gone - which is a 70'000$ loss!

 

As we had planned 2 runs per month till June to Romana - we are kind of preplexed how to handle this new situation!

 

All the same

- we praise the LORD that both drivers are unharmed

 

- we are praying that the insurance company will not bulk at paying the damages (as sleeping at the wheel is handled along the same lines as drunk driving here in Europe).

 

- we are praying that my young co-driver John (24) will recover from his emotional difficulties, as he will have to stand trial.

 

- we are praying that the LORD would graciously provide for a replacement for the truck soon - as the owner (Global Aid Network = Campus Crusade) had the truck booked for runs to Latvia and delivering containers to Rotterdam (sea port) for a building project (orphanange) in Haiti!

 

Rejoicing to be around to write this note!!

 

In HIS grip!

 

Mark Walker

 

Dear friends, " Hello" from Germany after a very eventful summer.

Doris and Chad had a wonderful wedding here in our town. It was a big family enterprise in which everybody had their part and did it well. As a whole family, including Lisa's Luke and Cathrin's  Mike, we worked together in preparing and carrying out the big event. Here in Germany, there is a short reception after the wedding ceremony to which everyone can come. Then there is a big dinner and celebration for the invited guests in the evening with a program of skids, picture shows, songs, games, etc. There were 60 people in the evening. The wedding ceremony was at a many centuries old church 2 miles away (Mappach, for those who have been there). My brother Hermann and his family did all the music, and the two dads did the actual wedding ceremony. After that, the young couple and a few of us rode to Gupf in a beautiful carriage with a "Just Married" sign drawn by two big draft horses (friends of ours did that with joy and for free). In our own little town of Gupf, we had cleaned out and arranged the hay loft of the also centuries old barn where we had once kept our horses. Lisa and team did a wonderful job of decorating church, carriage and barn, and visiting family helped immensely. The weather was wonderful, and we all had a good time. Even Mark, who had come home with a very bad case of bursitis in his knee 10 days before the wedding and needed antibiotics for 2 weeks, was able to walk again. Luke and Mike were able to do the jobs he would have done and had a great chance to show what kind of guys they are - and we more than appreciated them. And even the small budget we had, more than covered all expenses. I felt a little bit like in the story of the feeding of the 5,000 where there were even left-overs. Thank you all who prayed for this big event!!! Your prayers were answered beyond expectations!

Doris and Chad are now settled in Detroit, Chad with "Youth Works Detroit" and Doris with a job she is going to start tomorrow (Sept. 30). Lisa and Cathrin are in their last year before their Master's degree. Lisa just experienced God's faithfulness in giving her the right project for her Master's thesis and the people for the committee she needs (plus she also has a teaching position), and Cathrin is still very busy doing her internship in Georgia (where Mike lives) and doing her online-studies. Susi was able to go on a short visit to Georgia, NC, MD and New York City. (Thanks, Joan and the O'Conners for your hospitality!) Her health is improving, and I am so glad that the treatment of her heart problem was so successful.

Jana and I are back in school. Even though she still says she hates school, she actually enjoys it more and more. God in his faithfulness keeps sending the right people her way who can help her grow out of the "I am stupid, I cannot learn" mode which had been implanted in her heart by the bad times 2-3 years ago.

I am "just" an aide to my special needs student for the 4 core classes without the afternoon class of German, which gives me more time than last year. And on Wednesdays I still enjoy attending our international bilingual CBSI bible study where I translate the opening part and the lecture at the end. This is a great way of reaching women who seek God.

Mark just came home from a trip to Romania, which went very well, and is getting ready to fly to the US on Tuesday.  There will be our bi-annual EBF conference in Michigan, the missions conference at the Church of the Open Door in Fayetteville,NC, and Aarin Walker's wedding in Indiana - all in 3 weeks. We hope he will be able to see many of you during this time. Since he also wants to be available to help his parents in Michigan, he might not be able to do as many visits as he had hoped. But I am glad that he can be there to help - Germany is very far away otherwise.

Thank you so much for being our friends and sharing our ministry. God bless you all, Maria for the whole Walker family

 

Dear friends, when Jana and I flew back to Germany on May 30, we left Indiana with temperatures over 90° F and arrived in Germany at 60° and the end of 3 weeks of rain. Several towns were totally flooded in the eastern parts of Germany, with only roofs looking out of the water. Now we have temperatures between 90 and 100°, and the land is craving for rain. The Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset because it is Ramadan. There are many Muslims living here, mosques are being built more and more boldly. Germans have less and less children, but our Muslim fellow citizens compensate for this with large families. And since Germany is not (yet) a Muslim country, life has to be carried on as usual, even for the Muslims who may not drink all day long.

I just read Isaiah 45, and the phrases struck me that sound a little bit like the Muslim statement of faith: (V.5) "I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no other God." - But Mohammad is not His prophet, but Jesus is His son: (V.21) "... there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except me. (V.22) Turn to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other." - If only the dry mouths of the Muslims were thirsting for the ONE GOD and the dry lands of post-reformation Germany were thirsting for TRUTH! And may we be ready to speak up and share God's love and righteousness with every open heart!

Right now, Mark is helping out at the moving company where his colleagues are either very profane Germans or not really practicing Muslims. It is a daily challenge and opportunity!

We are very thankful to be able to share that the blood work last week showed no raised level of PSA, that means that he does not need radiation. He has to have regular check-ups, but there seems to be no further evidence of cancer.

Mark stayed 12 days longer than Jana and I to help his parents move to Michigan where they are now living with their daughter Mary. That was very hard for everyone, most of all of course for his parents. But we are glad it is done.

Isn't it good that we have a permanent home in heaven, and we even do not have to pack up and move there in a big effort, but He takes care of this? We just need to be ready.

We want to thank all of you we met and we stayed with during our time in the US. It is always very refreshing and encouraging to see you all.

It was also good to see our "American" daughters and be at Doris' and Chad's graduation and meet Chad's parents. Doris and Chad also had a formal courthouse wedding, since the paperwork for a German wedding with a non-European is immense. But they still live separately until August 17 when they will have their church wedding over here. In Germany this is two-fold anyway. You need to get your marriage license at the city hall, and then you can have a church wedding. Doris and Chad spent the past months in Detroit, MI, where they did a summer internship with an inner city youth ministry. Chad will work with this ministry full-time, starting in September, Doris is applying for a job in business management.

All the girls will be come home soon, Lisa arrived tonight to help get things ready for the wedding. Then Doris and Chad are coming the following week, and on the same day Cathrin and MIKE will fly in. We have not met him yet. He works at the same place where Cathrin is doing her internship until Christmas. Cathrin really experienced God's fatherly love in a special way. She found a place to live for free with full room and board, with a family from a church Willard Larose got her connected with. And the internship is going very well.

Luke is also going to come over for 2 weeks. Lisa had a summer job on campus as a gardener for which she was very thankful. Now my yard is waiting for her skillful hands.

Susi had a final check-up this week. The occludor that patches the almost 1 inch wide hole between her left and right atrium is doing its job, everything is tight and in place, even though it will take some time for her lungs to fully recover from not having had the right blood supply for over 30 years. But she was able to pass her private pilot's license test, an old dream come true. And it was through the aviation doctor that this whole issue was found out about. So we are thankful that she did pursue this even though we sometimes wondered why she had to do this.

Jana finished her school year so much better than last year. We are very thankful for all God has done in her life. Now we are working to help her catch up what she is still missing in math, and she is making good progress.

Please remember us in your prayers that all the preparations for the wedding will go well.

Mark asks for prayer to discern what the "good works" are, "that God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them".

There are three specific areas:

1. Our mission partners in Romania are requesting a higher volume of deliveries of aid (clothes, shoes, household items, furniture, etc.) which they use for their outreach ministries.

2. Mark was asked to come and see the camps for African Muslim refugees in Sicily. One of my helpers in the warehouse developed this ministry of taking humanitarian aid down there which opened wide doors for the local churches to reach out to these desperate people. Now his advise is being asked on how to improve the logistics.

3. Christians in the Ukraine would like to receive humanitarian aid for themselves and for outreaches, but it is almost impossible to get truckloads across the border without much delay and enormous costs. Now there is the idea that the churches along this side of the border (Rumania, Hungary and Poland) could take in small amounts on day trips. And for this we need qualified local people to step up to this task and develop these "open doors".

By the way, we did get some good rain over night.

Thank you again for being our friends and part of our ministry. God bless you, Maria Walker