back to my back

is there anyone left who hasn't heard about my back problem and how much torment it has caused me in the past two years? its been on most of your prayer lists for ages.. and yet, it hasn't gotten better. over the weekend in fact, it got worse. i cant explain why- i hadnt lifted anything, walked too much or had much stress. there was no real reason... but it got so bad that i needed 10 minutes to go upstairs (where the working toilette is).. even taking the pills from the hospital didnt make a dent in the pain. and i took two! so sunday i made my buckeled over way to church (slowly enough to be passed by several grandmothers and three legged dogs)

pasquine (the wife of our visiting pastor) told me empathetically about her old back problem and how she was healed miracurously after a long time of prayer... and if i was that three legged dog i would of growled. it isnt fun when you are in terrible pain to have others tell you of how they used to have it too. it doesnt feel like empathy- it feels like nany-nany-boo-boo! then she asked if she could pray for me. why not, Lord? lets say the hundredthousandth prayer and see if anything happens. it was one of those moments of little faith that show up after so many failed attempts. and as she prayed i kept thinking "yes, yes.. but faster..pray faster i cant stand up any longer.. yes healing.. but quick say amen.." (i was hanging between two cocktail tables mostly supported by my arms during this) she finally said amen, and i stood up.. all the way.. huh..odd...... odder still, when i had to go to the restroom, the steps didnt give me trouble..... by the end of the service i was able to go up front and tell everyone (who all looked very surprised to see me jump up on stage) that my back doesn't hurt. and it still doesnt, a day later. oh it doesnt feel great- it feels like i need to do some muscle building excersizes and get a nice massage (ok, so i always need a good massage...) but it definatly doesnt hurt anymore. :-D




ps- after church i stayed at the offenbar for a concert from a small christian group.. they were suposedly from canada, but the bassist was finnish and the guitarrist a texan boy. they were pretty good- called perry and the poorboys. book them. buy there cds. or something like that. they probly have a website.. yep, just looked.. i linked to it, so if you are interested, click above. just too bad they were headed away from germany. hope they come back.

the wedding party

this weekend was our first challenge in hospitatlity.. caro and ben had their church wedding on saturday and we hosted eight of their guests. in typical freak style, we only knew of three of them on friday morning. and only knew two personally- like eddie, our friendly freak carpenter.. he's on his three year "walz" moving from one town to another learning his trade.



friday evening i came home to find someone else already there, and three more contacted us later that evening. the challenge wasn't in finding enough space for them all (we have that!) it was in relating. that shocked me. once we got past the few misunderstandings and small annoyances that having total strangers in your home brings with it (like when they think things are their "right" or don't have everything we asked them to- like a sleepingbag) we had good conversation and a nice brunch sunday morning together. then i showed a few people around bremen. (despite the increadibe back pain) as "payment" we asked that they concider us in their prayers. we were especially blessed to see that they left donations in our little donations box- a whole 60e for the house, and wadded up together with a note that it is for me, another 30e! we already decided that the 60e will go to buying lightbulbs and fixtures for the remaining rooms (only half have light right now) and to hooking up the washingmachine. if there is anything left, we will get blinds for the basement bathroom (so the neihbors wont get the full picture!) and paint to renovate the guests apartment. the donation for me comes exactly right, because this weekend is a jesus freaks seminar in celle i want to go to and i need to pay my phone/internet bill this week. cool how the Lord comes through right when we need it.

visiting hasselbrock

i almost made it to holland today.
i took hans to visit the therepy center in hasselbrock on the german-holland border. dont ask me why we chose the hottest day of the year to spend in a car without AC.. anyways, it was really cool. hans was excited by it, and they offered him a place. he can start as soon as he is detoxed. its a christian therepy (of course) and he doesnt have to go through all the burocratic loops, either. also, it is a longer program.. he can stay 12 months in therepy and as long as he needs in the aftercare program.
a funny side note.. i saw this guy walk by and was like "hey- i know him! whats he doing here?" it was thorston, a guy from berlin i know. he is now living in hasselbrock! small world.

please be praying for hans, that he get into a detox clinik soon and is able to handle the pressure associated with it- physically, mentally, and spiritually.

house party

last night we celebrated moving into the hope house. i had it on my heart to celebrate in a slightly abnormal way. we invited people to come at 7 who were interested in praying for the project and blessing it. joining my roommates and i were several from the offenbar, from cafe chance, from the jesus freaks, and from the people i minister to (!).

we all squnched into our prayer chamber (i am very excited that we are able to have a room designated just for God! it used to be a kitchen, then an office, and as soon as i saw it the first time, i thought of daniel and just knew it should be our prayer chamber). first just to give thanks. we prayed a long time just listing the things that have been so special in the last few weeks and months- from finding the house up until the actual day, there was alot to be thankful for!

then we each prayed according to our own preference for style, speed and location throughout the house. i had prepared a short discription of each room/ person and the prayer needs and hung it on the door.. (so for example on the bathroom, there was a mention that our energy and water cost are too high, and in my room i mentioned my back problem and that i am in charge of our guests.. ) we also had prayer sheets for our team and friends group. (i should probly post about those seperately, huh?!) so everyone went at their own speed through the house and prayed. a few people added cool Bible verses or encouragements for us on the sheets.



then, at 9 others were invited to come to join the party and to grill with us in the garden and enjoy the evening. its finally warm here! corken and a friend played some music (they are djs) in the basement, i had on swing, and upstairs we had praise and worship. there was alot to eat and- importantly- no alcohol.

the party wound down around three. and we fell into a blessed sleep.

~... ~

wedding ministry

wow- this was an awesome day!
karo and ben had their state-marriage-ceremony today and decided to celebrate it in a biblical way. we had a huge grill party and went out onto the streets and invited all the junkies and homeless to come celebrate. when none came, krumel and i went out again and spent two hours gathering the people and bringing them there. it was really cool to see the looks on the peoples faces. many thought we were joking or that they werent dressed apropriatly enough or that they were too drunk, but we reasured them all, and at the end we had twenty guests aproximately. homeless, junkies, and punks, all sitting together peacefully and celebrating the wedding of strangers. it naturally brought up the question "why" and to who we are. since the party was at the offenbar, we were able to invite them all back sunday for church. we made alot of new contacts- i only knew a third of those who came! several said they plan to come sunday, so pray that they do!

moving hope

we finally "moved" into the hope house on the first of june.... unfortunatly, my stuff didnt quite make it. i have been sleeping on lillys bed until today... its a holiday in germany, and i got a wake-up call from conny (from the offenbar team) asking if i need help moving. she had her husbands transporter for the day. so i text-messaged a few jesus freaks and we moved my stuff to the house. its good to finally be home.

hope sermon

i preached today on hope.
the special thing about this sermon, was that i asked muck (one of the jesus freaks) to stand behind me on the stage and paint his impression of what i said. it was improvised. then, when i was finished, i put on a song and said people should think about the source of hope in their lives. at this point i turned around for the first time and saw the picture. it hit me hard- it is so powerful! soon the sermon, and the pictures of the painting will be available online, then i will edit this post and add a link. here's the finished product: