Ropers In Germany

Following after Him

2012-01-24T23:44:00.003+01:00

Well it has been a little bit since I last updated you andso I want to give you a little more information with what the Lord is doingwith us as a family.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Katie and Aliyah are both going to school now! Aliyah isattending her kindergarten class and is loving it! For the next three weeks shewill be staying another 45 minutes each day so that she can get caught up withthe rest of the kids in her class. Her teacher says that she is doing great andis adapting very well. Katie just took her first test last week and got 11 outof 12 right on here spelling test. The only reason why she missed one wasbecause she forgot to do the last one. We are so proud of her. She is alsobehind in her class, but is working really hard to get caught up. Rebecca isworking with her after school and she is learning to read more and more everyday. If she gets 100 books read by the end of the school year, she will be ableto participate in a pizza party. She has only been in school for one week andalready has 7 books read. So there is a lot more to go, but we believe she cando it. Please continue to be praying for the girls as they go to school on aregular basis and pray that they will be able to catch up in their schooling,so far their teachers say that they are doing a great job!

OUR LITTLE NEST

“Our Little Nest” is what we have named our one big roomplace that we are staying in. The place consists of a walk in closet, a littlebathroom which has a shower, sink, and toilet, and then one large room where wefit a bunk bed for the girls, a single bed for Noah, and a queen size bed forRebecca and I, a refrigerator, a table, and a two drawer dresser. Ok, we doadmit that it is not big, but we are tremendously blessed to have this littlenest of ours to be living in. The Lord has blessed us in so many ways! I cannotgo into too much detail right now. During the morning hours Rebecca and Noah have been runningerrands, looking for the different things that we need to get our little nestput together and organized. My mom has helped us out so much as well and hasblessed us in so many ways! Thank you mom! We are almost finished, stilllooking for a tall dresser that we can put in our walk in closet, but we arealmost there. We have officially been living here for two weeks now. SOTHANKFUL & BLESSED!

CC CONFERENCE CENTER

Right now the Lord has opened the door for me to volunteerwith the Conference Center for a certain amount of hours per week so that wecan live here. Every day I have different duties that I am involved in on thecampus. Through living here, we are getting to know more and more people aseach day goes by. In just a few weeks the Bible College semester will bestarting and part of my responsibility will be to oversee the students in thearea that they will be serving in and really seeking to disciple them duringthose hours. I am looking forward to this opportunity to minister and speakinto the lives of these students.

Now I have got to admit, this campus is absolutelybeautiful! We have been here many times in the past, attending conferences orvisiting friends, but never did I ever think that we as a family would beliving here. Now I know that it is only for a season, but how blessed it is tobe here and to be a part of what the Lord is doing here, no matter whatcapacity that might mean!

CC BIBLE COLLEGE

This last section will have a lot more information in futurewrite ups, but I have got to share with you what the LORD did last week. Heopened up a door for me to be teach a class at the Bible College through theMinor Prophets. I will have to share the story another time, but how amazing isGod to answer a prayer of mine on the very same day that I had prayed it. Iwasn’t specifically praying to teach at the Bible College, but just putting adesire of mine before Him. Although it has been great to have these past fewmonths off of teaching, I have honestly missed the whole process of studyingGod’s Word, putting together the studies, and then declaring it to His preciouspeople. PRAISE GOD! HE IS SO GOOD!

So I will be teaching through the Minor Prophets for thespring semester here at the Bible College. That will be 12 books in just 14classes. For those of you who know me are probably thinking, “YEAH RIGHT – Joeycould never do that!” Well, I will be and it is going to be something that Iwill definitely covet your prayers. Any time you are thinking about us, thiswill definitely be an area that we ask you to be praying for. Not just for me,but also for the students that will be in the class. At this point I am notsure how many students I will have, but the LORD knows that and I will trustHim with that!

So, like I said, more to come on this…

The Goodness of our God

2012-01-14T20:18:00.000+01:00

"I will singto the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.". Psalm 13:6

Well it has been awhile since I lasted posted on our blog.For two reasons 1) we do not always have the Internet and so we are unable toand 2) we have been really busy and so we haven't really had the time. So nowthat I am done with my excuses, let me share with you what the Lord has beendoing.

MISSIONS CONFERENCE

As you may know, Rebecca and I had the chance to go to theCalvary Chapel Missions Conference at the beginning of this month at the CCConference Center in Murrieta, CA. We were so blessed to have the chance to goto our first missions conference together. I have had the chance to go to somein the past, but this time we were both able to go! Thank you grandparents forwatching the kids for us!

Our desire in going to the conference was to clearly hearfrom the LORD on what He is calling us to do in our next steps. We know that wehave some immediate steps to take here in California, but before making those steps, we wanted to hearmore clearly for our future steps as well. We will share more with you on thosefuture steps in the future, as we are still seeking the Lord on details withthat...

OUR IMMEDIATE STEPS

These past months we have been blessed by our parents asthe have so graciously hosted us and yet we knew that it was time for us to getout on our own, to get our own place, to get the kids back into school, get ourown car, etc. etc. etc. While at the missions conference we were able to meet alot of other missionaries and catch up with a few that we have met throughoutthe years. The was one couple in particular, Tim and Talisa Rogers, that I havehelped in the past down in Brazil, that are also at a transition time in theirlives and have been staying on the Bible College campus in Murrieta for thepast four months or so. After talking with them a few times, they told us howthey would be moving to Costa Mesa at the end of the week. After hearing alittle more with what was involved in the place they stayed at on campus andafter talking about it and praying over it, I decided to make the steps to seeif it was a possibility for us to be able to stay in this place. So on the lastnight of the conference, at the end of dinner, I talked with Tim and asked himwho I would need to talk to regarding this place. After hearing who it was Ineeded to talk to, I immediately turned to a pastor friend of mine and toldhim, "We need to get a hold of ____(name not necessary)_______." Hethen called him and connected him and I on the phone. I told him our situationand asked if it would be possible. He then told me that I would need need toget a hold of another man and relay our situation and his agreement to thesituation. If I have not totally lost you in all of this, the answer came thenext morning and it was, "Well, wedon't have anyone lined up for the place and so you guys are totally welcome tomove in as soon as you would like."

Now before I finish the story I want to share with you someverses that the Lord really spoke to us during a time of afterglow on one ofthe evenings and then again the following morning during our devotions.

"Therefore I say unto you, Takeno thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yetfor your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and thebody than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither dothey reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are yenot much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubitunto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies ofthe field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I sayunto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of littlefaith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall wedrink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for yourheavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek yefirst the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall beadded unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shalltake thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evilthereof."

As we were coming to the end of the conference, we began tothink of our immediate steps that were ahead of us and began to worry a littlebit about those immediate steps. After surrendering it all to the Lord onceagain, He was so faithful to speak to us once again through His Word! He is sogood to us!

So back to the story! On Monday, January 9th, we began our move to the Bible College campus in Murrieta, California. We have spent the week setting up our little place and getting all of the paperwork together to get the girls into the local public school. So, it looks like the girls will begin Kindergarten and the 1st grade classes at Alta Murrieta Elementary School on Tuesday, as Monday is a holiday. There are still a few steps that we need to finalize with the girls paperwork for the school, but they are going to let the girls begin on Tuesday morning.

Please do be praying for the girls as they begin on Tuesday morning!

I will be meeting with the director of the Conference Center on Monday to see how I will be able to help out on the campus here. This will not be a paying job, but it will help us to live here on campus for free and take care of our meals as well. I will still be looking into getting a job in the near future, but one step at a time. There may be a few doors opening up for that as well, we shall see.

So there is still so much more to share with you, but I will leave you with that much for now. Please do continue to pray for us as week continue to seek the Lord in all that He has for us in this season! Here is a picture of the kids eating breakfast on our first morning here at the campus!

2011 ---- 2012

2012-01-01T08:30:00.001+01:00

Can you believe it? 2011 will be officially over in less than an hour. I have got to hurry up and finish this so that I can sneak out of the house and go spend some time with the Lord looking over many different cities and really present myself and my family to Him!
2011 has come and gone by so fast! I cannot believe that we are already done with this year! It went by so fast! I would have to say it was the fastest year of my life. Is that because I am getting older? Anyways, as I sit here now in SoCal in my parents home, I would have to be honest with you... this is the last place I thought I would be sitting and living at the end of this year! Last year I was bringing in the new year with our friends in Germany with snow covering the ground. Today it was around 80 degrees or more as we departed the Disney on Ice event with my family! What a difference! While I must say that I do miss my friends so much in Germany and do miss what the Lord is doing in Europe, I am very thankful to be with my family during this holiday season in this warm weather. I am thankful that the LORD is in control and is working in many new ways!

2012! What will this new year bring? I am not sure, but it is so nice to know that I know the ONE who knows it all! As most of you know, we are in a season where we are waiting on the Lord and really seeking Him as to what is next for us! We are just two days away from the missions conference that we will be attending. We are really looking forward to go and hear from the Lord and what He has in store for us! I am so thankful that He is sovereign and in complete control. Some of these last days have been hard for us, in the sense that we really want to start making decisions and start having direction from the Lord. And yet I know that I have been told time and time again to wait and not rush ahead. So as we (the Ropers) look into this new coming year, we will have our eyes upon the LORD - for where else shall we go, He alone has the words of eternal life!
I am excited to see JESUS be glorified in our lives! I am excited to enjoy Jesus with my wife and kids! I am excited to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus in a new and living way this year!

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL!

Prayer: Health

2011-12-30T07:16:00.001+01:00

Hello Everyone!
We are writing with a prayer request. Noah woke up a while ago throwing up and he has done it a few times. He is now back to sleep and everything is cleaned up.

We do want to ask you to please be praying for Noah and for all of us these next few weeks. As the missions conference is quickly approaching, I have personally been praying for health for us as a family because I know that the enemy would love to get in any way possible. So please do keep this in your prayers!

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

quick recovery for Noah
a peaceful night's sleep and rest for everyone
protection for the rest of the family

Thank you all and God Bless you!

Love,
The Roper Family

Christmas Story - through kids eyes

2011-12-28T07:15:00.001+01:00

I just saw this and thought I would share it with you all! I thought it was great!

Merry Christmas to all

2011-12-25T17:15:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas! It is Christmas morning and I am the only one awake at the Chapman house. This will be the first Christmas in 4 years that we will be spending with our family. We are very thankful for this chance that we get to have with them this year! I went to bed late last night, but right before I went to bed I read the Christmas story out of Luke chapters 1 & 2. So I woke up this morning really thinking and meditating on the fact that GOD became flesh and dwelt among us! I mean, really stop and think about that - I cannot put into words (of any language) how thankful I am that He did this for us! So here are a few verses that really came to my mind...

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:11

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory"

1 Timothy 3:16

"but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men."

Philippians 2:7

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel"

Isaiah 7:14

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

These are just to name a few, but they really ministered to me this morning! I pray that you are blessed with them as well! Merry Christmas to all and may we enjoy JESUS today!

10 Years of Engagement!

2011-12-24T01:59:00.003+01:00

10 years ago I asked Rebecca to marry me!

What God is Doing

2011-12-16T19:43:00.000+01:00

Hello Everyone! Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten! I know that it has been a while since I posted last, so I want to share with you a few things that the Lord has been doing with us and a few things that are coming up.
First of all, I want to share how super blessed we have been to be able to spend time with our families. The kids have been able to play with their cousins so much! I believe all of the cousins have been enjoying it! Just the other day, the had the chance to make Gingerbread houses and decorate them with tons of candy! Each of our kids made their own and so needless to say, we are trying to keep them from the candy and keeping them occupied with other things.

GOD'S WILL

Over these past weeks, Rebecca and I have been reading this book together. It was a book that my mom had sitting next to our bed when we arrived in CA. When I first saw it, I knew that I would want to read it. A few weeks back, Rebecca and I had the chance to spend a few days with each other down at the beach without the kids and so we brought this book along and began to read it. I cannot tell you how much the LORD ministered to us through this book. We were reminded of many things and challenged in other ways, but one of the major points that stood out to me was the fact that our God is a Sovereign God and is in complete control. As we are in a time when we are waiting on the Lord and seeking Him for His direction for us, how reassuring it was to know that the LORD is in complete control! In fact, one of the times when we were reading through the book, Rebecca commented, "We are right where the Lord wants us."
I can honestly say that we are continuously asking the LORD to show us and to tell us what is next for us and yet the common response that continues to come to us is to "Rest, Trust Me, I am in control, etc."
So we ask that you would continue to pray for us as we continue to seek Him and to TRUST in Him. How encouraging it is to be reminded of the following verses,

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

CHRISTMAS TIME

It is Christmas time! Now I have got to be a little honest. It is a little anti-climatic here in SoCal during Christmas. I say that because for the past 3 years we have been in a "Winter Wonderland" during the month of December being in Germany. We actually had a White Christmas. When we listened to the song that is often played during this time of year, "Baby it's cold outside," it was actually cold outside. I have spent most of my days in December wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt. So I am not saying that one place is better than the other, but that is why I say it is anti-climatic, there is no snow outside. BUT I do love wearing my shorts and sandals in the month of December! It's great!
So, IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! One of the greatest times of the year! A time when we will be getting together with family and relatives, some of whom we have not seen in many years! We are really excited about that!
The reason why this is one of the greatest times of the year is because we will have the opportunity to share the GOOD NEWS with the world! That's right! The Gospel of Jesus Christ - the fact that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (john 3:16)- the fact that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (john 1:14). People are in need of GOOD NEWS, and we disciples of Jesus have got the greatest news in the world! So let us be faithful this Christmas and display and proclaim Christ!

MISSIONS CONFERENCE

From January 2-6, 2012, Rebecca and I will be attending the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference that will be held in Murrieta, CA. The theme of the conference will be, "I will build My Church." We are really excited and looking forward to going to this conference. It will be the first missions conference that Rebecca and I will be able to attend together and we are really praying that the Lord will clearly speak to us at this conference. So we do ask for your prayers as well for us. May the Lord speak in the sessions, ordain conversations, bless the fellowship, be glorified in the worship, and so much more! Once again, please do be praying for us during this week. I am not putting all of my hope in this conference, but we will be going EXPECTING the LORD to speak to us!

God's Glory & Our Joy

2011-12-14T23:18:00.003+01:00

Identity Issues | God’s Glory and Our Joy from Reality on Vimeo.

Christmas Greetings from Roper Kids

2011-12-03T03:29:00.001+01:00

Merry Christmas - Frohe Weihnachten!

Newsletter Info

2011-12-01T19:08:00.001+01:00

We have been in California for just over three weeks now and we have spent the past weeks adjusting to the time difference, catching up with our families, and enjoying the warm weather. We are looking forward to spending the holidays with our families for the first time in 4 years!
Over these past few weeks, one of the predominate questions that is being asked to us is, “What is going on with you guys?” So here it is.
Throughout this year we have been seeking the Lord if it is His will for us to remain in Herborn or if He would be moving us on. In the month of June, we really believed that the Lord was directing us to “step into the water” and to start moving on from Herborn. We did not know where and when, but we knew that we needed to start to make the steps necessary to begin to prepare the church in Herborn and us as a family for whatever would be next. In the month of August, I, Joey went to the missions conference in Austria to really go seek the Lord as to what would be next for us as a family. During the time there, it was confirmed that the Lord was moving us on from Herborn and that He had a new work for us. As we continue to seek the Lord as to where, what, and when that is, He is answering with words like, “Trust, Be Still, Be Patient, Wait, Seek, Do not boast about tomorrow” etc. To sum it up, we are in a transition time where He is calling us to WAIT upon Him. We are not sure how long this time will be, but we are going to take it one day at a time. Something that the Lord is speaking to us is in regards to being fully surrendered to Him so that we might be willing to do whatever it is that He is preparing us to do (future) as well as to learn what lessons He has for us in this transition time (present).
At the present time we are living with our families, but in the near future I will be needing a job, a place to live, a car, etc. Since we left all of our possessions in storage in Germany, we will also need, well... pretty much everything. We are praying for the Lord to show us where He wants us to be planted and so this is where your help in the following areas is appreciated:

Be praying for us in this time of waiting upon the Lord

Continued financial support in this time of transition

Please contact us if you may have any leads regarding a job, housing, car, etc.

We want to thank all of you who have supported us over these past 3 years through your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. We want to testify to you that through your support, the German people were extremely blessed, grew in their faith, and some have given their lives to Jesus! The Lord has seen all that you have done unto Him and He will reward you. We want to ask that you would please continue to support us as we seek to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’

Roper Family Update

2011-11-12T21:28:00.001+01:00

Hello Everyone!
I am sorry for not keeping you all updated this past week, but I will try to summarize a few main things that took place this past week so that you can be caught up with us.

HEALTH
Rebecca's health is doing a lot better. She has a few more days of antibiotics and so hopefully everything will be fine by then. The main thing has been the canker sours in her throat that have really been affecting her. Please do continue to pray for a completely healing with that. The kids and I have remained healthy.

FAMILY
We have had the opportunity over these past weeks to spend a lot of time with my family. We have been going to the local parks for the kids to play with their cousins, going out to some of our favorite restaurants, and enjoying our time with one another. We will be moving over to Rebecca's parents house next week to spend time with them as well.
It took us about a week to get adjusted to the time schedule here, but we are fully adjusted and the kids are finally sleeping all the way through the night.

COURAGEOUS

A few nights ago, Rebecca and I had the opportunity to have a date night and so we decided to go see the movie COURAGEOUS. We have heard about this movie and so we were looking forward to seeing it! We have not gone out to a movie in years and so this was a great treat for us.
I would highly recommend for everyone to see this movie! IT IS A MUST SEE! You will laugh, cry, etc. If you have not seen it and it is still in the movie theatres in your local area, then you have got to see it! For those of you reading this in Germany, you need to start praying that this gets translated soon into German so that you too can go watch it! This is a MUST SEE for all fathers, husbands, and any man!

GOSPEL
On Thursday evening, Rebecca and I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with three different people while visiting our favorite beach! It was such an amazing opportunity that the Lord gave to us. After sharing with these 3 different people, we definitely saw how the Lord directed our steps to that specific location. It wasn't as though we had never been to this location, we have been there many times. This is a very famous look out spot there at Laguna Beach. We shared with a local artist who was there painting, a French women who was visting a family member, and a man who was standing and listening to our conversation the whole time.
How amazing it was to then get into the car, turn on the radio, and then hear pastor Brian Broderson teaching on the exact same things that we were just talking about with these 3 people. We do ask that you would join in with us and be praying for Chantel (French woman), Mark (local resident), and Esther (the artist). May the Holy Spirit continue to work in the hearts and minds of each of these people with the Truth that we shared with them!
I was so blessed to have this opportunity with my wife! It was so great to work together, going back and forth, sharing God's Word and His Truth with these people!

LORD OPEN UP MORE DOORS!

Health

2011-11-03T19:21:00.003+01:00

Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to give you a little update with regards to our health. The kids seem to be doing really good. I (Joey) still am struggling with a cough and some allergies, and Rebecca is really sick. She has a sore throat and her body aches. Please do be praying for her! We are looking into getting to the doctor's office today to get her checked out.

We do covet your prayers!

Love the Roper Family

Arrived in CA

2011-11-01T18:37:00.000+01:00

So we officially arrived in California around 4:30pm. It was a 11 1/2 hour flight. The kids did pretty good. Katie slept for a long time on the flight, liyah slept for a few hours, ah slept for about an hour at the beginning, and Rebecca and I did not sleep at all. Needless to say we were pretty exhausted when my mom and sister picked us up. Because we arrived at the height of traffic hour in LA, we decided to go eat. NO, we did not go to IN-N-OUT, but we did enjoy our food at Chilis. We then drove home, unloaded the kids and the luggage out of the car and then went to bed! I guess Katie has been up since 2am this morning. My mom has been up with her. Aliyah woke up also around 2 am and I was able to get her back to bed. Noah woke up at 3am. Him and I had some cereal, since he was super hungry and did not eat at Chilis (he was sleeping). I then was able to put him back to bed by 4am and then I went back to bed.

Please do be praying for us, as Katie and Aliyah are still a little sick. Rebecca and I are now sick as well. Please do be praying for health and an adjusting to the time here in CA!

This morning we ate breakfast out on my parents balcony. This is completely unbelievable. It is November 1st and we are enjoying a WARM SUNNY morning, while eating breakfast! So thankful!

We will continue to keep you updated!

Love you all

Love the Ropers

2 Days...

2011-10-29T20:46:00.002+02:00

We are officially two days away from being in the air flying back to California. It is crazy to think that we only have two days left in Deutschland. The time is going by so fast and my mind is filled with mixed emotions. Last night a friend of mine, Daniel Kruse, was asking me a few questions regarding what I will miss, what is different, how I would describe the German people to the Americans. Although they were really good questions, some of them which I was unable to answer at the moment, it really caused me to think over these past 3 years in a few moments. That was literally impossible for me to do. It was hard for me to answer the questions, because my mind has been so filled with so many things, it was hard to get my mind to be wrapped around the fact that we are leaving. It is crazy. I probably do not even make any sense. Today while we were driving to Düsseldorf, I told Rebecca, "Are we really doing this? Are we really moving back to CA?"It is not as though CA is foreign to me, it is just that I have grown to love Deutschland, Europe, and the people. So mentally it is really hard to get my mind around everything that will be taking place these next few days, weeks, months...

Anyways, today we a complete blessing. We drove up to D-dorf to hang out with our dear friends, the Coronel Family. We will be staying with them our last days here in Deutschland. Such a blessing. After such a busy week, it was great to simply hang out and take the kids to a local Schwimmbad (swimming pool) and just have fun!

Tomorrow I will be teach at Calvary Chapel Düsseldorf! I am really excited to get together with the saints one last time in D-dorf, to get into God's Word, to worship with them, and to be encouraged by them! May the LORD be glorified in all that takes place!

Please be praying!

Aliyah turns 5 today!

2011-10-28T07:42:00.001+02:00

4 days...

2011-10-27T23:23:00.000+02:00

These past few days have been very busy with a lot of work. We are now just 4 days away from boarding our plane in Düsseldorf. But before we get there, there are quite a few things that must take place.

PACKING

Today we have officially finished packing up the house. Yesterday we had another amazing work crew to help us pack up everything up and move it to the church. We had another crew cleaning up the house. What a blessing it was to have our dear friends help us out with all of these details. One of the major pieces of furniture that we needed to pack up was our kitchen. You see, here in Germany, you actually buy your own kitchen and then pretty much take that kitchen with you wherever you move. That is unless the next renters want to buy your kitchen from you. So before we started to pack up the kitchen, one of my friends asked if the next people moving in would want to buy it. We were not sure, but we did know who they were and the general area of where they lived, so we went to go look for their house and see if they were interested. Well, we ended up finding their house and then found out that they would be coming home later in the day. Later on in the day, the wife came by and checked out the kitchen and said that she liked it very much, but that she would have to talk with her husband and then they would leave an answer for us in our mailbox this morning. So this morning we checked our mailbox and saw that they were interested. I then went to their house and let her husband know that he could come and check it out. He then came by, we discussed some details about the kitchen and then the price for it. He ended up only offering a lower amount, which was too low for us. So there was no deal.
Then as a little time went by, I decided that I would stop by his house once again and see if he would be willing to go a little higher. He did! So we didn't get the total amount that we wanted, but I do believe that it is a good price! So we sold our kitchen today! That was a huge relief. I will be picking up the cash from him tomorrow.

DETAILS

We still have a few details that are before us tomorrow. De-registering from Herborn, stopping by the hospital to pay a bill for my parents, our visa renewal appointment, and then meet with the owner of the apartment to do a walk-through. Please do be praying for this walk-through with the owner. Pray that everything goes smoothly and that he will even allow us NOT to pay our rent (830 Euros) for the month of November.

BIRTHDAY

Tomorrow our Aliyah Grace Roper will be turning FIVE YEARS OLD! We cannot believe it! So in the midst of all that we already have to do, we are still wanting to make the day special for her. Although it will be ok, because on Saturday we are going to have a little birthday party with her friends in Düsseldorf (the Coronel kids).

Do You Belong? A MUST listen!

2011-10-26T10:32:00.005+02:00

6 days left & an Update

2011-10-25T22:16:00.002+02:00

So I know that I have missed a few days for the countdown, but things have been busy and I do not always find time to get to my computer, but tonight I am finding a little time before I go to bed. So let me give you a little update as to what has been taking place the past few days.

SUNDAY

Sunday was our last day at CC Herborn. It was a very surreal day. A day full of mixed emotions. During the worship I would simply stop singing just to hear the people worship and I would start weeping. I was overwhelmed with so many things running through my mind. Pastor Edmund gave Rebecca and I an opportunity to share our final words with the precious people at CCH. I can't totally remember what I said, but I do pray that the people know how much we love them and how blessed we were by them! After the morning service, we had the opportunity to get together with a few families and go on a walk into the forest. It was a great walk! So beautiful and such great fellowship. How thankful we were to have Kristine and Amy along with us so that they could get to know our friends a little more. Our friends were equally as blessed to get to know Amy and Kristine as well. I then went back for the evening service where I was able to share once again with the evening crowd. What a blessed last Sunday with the saints at CCH!
Here is a photo from our walk...

MONDAY

For me, Monday was a long day of driving, a little bit of packing, and then a huge surprise. I left Monday morning with Kristine and Amy to take them to the Düsseldorf Airport. It took us about and hour and 40 minutes or so to get there, hitting a little bit of traffic along the way. I then helped them out, making sure that they were completely taken care of. I then headed on my way home to get back and start packing. Well.... and hour and a half drive turned into almost 4 hours. It was ridiculously boring. As some said to me on FB, God is probably preparing me for CA traffic once again. NO THANK YOU! I then came home to help Rebecca and a few of our friends with the packing and started to move some of the boxes and furniture over to our storage room at the church.

And then around 6pm or so, a few of my friends from the church showed up, acting like they were ready to help pack. I knew something was up, but had no idea what was in store for me. They ended up surprising me and taking me to an indoor soccer field where many of the brothers in the church were there to play some Fußball (soccer)! I was super-stoked! The only problem was, I had just packed all of my soccer stuff and given it to Kristine that very morning to have her take back to CA for me. I was able to borrow some shorts and was really excited to play! Since I had been running and training for the past 10 days or so, I was completely in shape for this evening of soccer! I was able to play pretty much the whole time and I didn't get tired at all. It was great! Thanks Kristine for getting me into shape for this! We then ended the evening with a BBQ at the church! Last night of Bratwurst with the Men! What a great time I had! Thank you all who came and blessed me! SO THANKFUL - You have no idea!

TUESDAY

Today was simply a day of packing and moving! We had a lot of help throughout the day and were able to pack and move most of our stuff over to the church! Lord willing we will be able to finish the apartment tomorrow. We shall see! We are super thankful for all of the help that we have had so far and look forward to the finished work!

Please continue to be praying for us!

9 Days...

2011-10-22T20:50:00.002+02:00

Today has marked 9 days for us here in Herborn, Germany. It was an absolutely beautiful day! During the late morning, Kristine and I went on a run/workout once again. Although I have been a little slow through these workouts, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting back in shape and letting out some energy. I do not know why I have waited so long to do this.
Later in the day until the evening, we have spent our time packing. Going through the kids rooms and our room and starting to pack luggage bags (that will go with us), storage boxes (that will stay here), and also some bags of things to give away.

As we were packing this evening, I began to think of how blessed I am to have Rebecca as my wife. I am so thankful that she is willing to live the life of a sojourner. This will now be the second time that we are packing up everything and going only with what we can fit in luggage bags. She has given up so much and I am so blessed by her.

As the days are ticking down and we are now really focused in on getting all of our stuff together, there is a lot to think about and also a lot of decisions to make. The hard thing is, we are needing to make decisions based on what we do not know. And yet the ONE THING that we DO KNOW, is that GOD KNOWS and we completely TRUST HIM!

We ask that you would please continue to keep us in your prayers during these last days here!

LAST DAY @ CC HERBORN

Tomorrow morning and evening will be our last services at CC Herborn! For those of you who are able to make it out to the service, we invite you to come on out and spend this last service with us! We are going to be having a potluck after the service, so come prepared for that! Pastor Edmund has given us 10-15 minutes at the end of each service to be able to share with the church! Please do be praying for this time with our church family here in Herborn! Pray for it to be really sweet!

The Countdown Begins

2011-10-21T23:18:00.000+02:00

We are officially 10 days from flying home to California. Crazy! I honestly have a lot of mixed emotions about it all. There is still so much to do and yet so little time.
Today I was walking through Herborn to get some flowers for Rebecca and her friend. As I walked through the town, I really began to think, "Man, this is my last time at the Friday Markt." It is crazy to think that we are beginning to have all of our 'lasts.'
I do ask you to please be praying for us as we need to do so much in these next 10 days. We can only take it a day at a time, and yet at times it does get a bit overwhelming. So please do be praying for us.

During the time of our family vacation, I started to get up early in the morning and go running with my sister-in-law, Kristine. It was so great! I have been soar, but I am slowly getting better and more in shape. So this morning I woke up once again, early in the morning, to go for a morning run/work out, but this time I went alone. So I decided to listen to some music while I was running. I was listening to Audrey Assad. I would highly recommend you to get her CD, it is great! There were a few songs that really ministered to me this morning while I was running, so I thought I would share it with you.

Visa Renewal #1

2011-10-20T09:55:00.001+02:00

So we are back from our family vacation. We had a great time! Now it is time to get back to the check off list.

#1 Visa Renewal.
I am standing outside the Auslanderbehöde (Renewal Office) right now and going to begin the process of renewing our visas!
Please be praying for this!

3 Weeks Left

2011-10-09T22:33:00.002+02:00

So we are officially just 3 weeks away from flying out of Düsseldorf, Germany to head back home to CA for a 'season.' Although we are not sure how long this 'season' is for, we do know that we have a lot of things ahead of us. So this is not an official countdown, but I guess you could say that the days are ticking...
Some of the things that are ahead of us for the next three weeks are the following:

10 - Joey's Dr. Appointment & Picking up Rebecca's sisters from the airport
12-19 - leave to Salzburg, Austria for a week vacation with Rebecca's family
20 - Visa Renewal Appointment
21 - Rebecca's Parents fly home to CA
23 - Last Sunday service @ CC Herborn
24 - Rebecca's sister fly home to CA
24-27 - Packing up everything, moving everything into storage, cleaning up our apartment
26 - Catherine Bezold is sharing @ CC Herborn - don't miss out on this!
28 - Aliyah turns 5 years old!
28 - A walk through with our current owner of the apartment that we live in
29 - drive to Düsseldorf & have a birthday party for Aliyah with the Coronel Family
30 - teach at CC Düsseldorf
31 - Fly back to CA

So as you can see, these next three weeks are very busy! We do greatly appreciate your prayers!

When we do arrive in CA, then the new list of things will begin. I will try to keep you updated then.

For our German readers, if you are able to help us out at all with packing, cleaning, moving, etc. from October 24-27, can you please write us on FB, call us on our phone, or email us to let us know!

We love you all and are very thankful for your love and support!

Items for Sale

2011-10-08T22:14:00.002+02:00

This note is to all of our German friends! We are posting these pictures of items that we looking to sale before we leave on October 31st. If you are interested or know someone that might be, please contact us via email, Facebook, or leave a comment in the comment section and leave your contact info. We will then talk about the prices. Thanks!

FB once again

2011-10-05T10:18:00.002+02:00

Just wanted to let all of you "Facebookers" know that I have logged into my FB account once again. I am going to be doing this while we are in transition so that I can keep as many people updated with what is going on with us and so I don't have to go through Rebecca's FB account.
So if you are interested in hearing more from me, then please add me as one of your friends!

Looking forward to sharing with you all!

Last Month - PLEASE PRAY!

2011-10-04T22:52:00.000+02:00

This month is going to be a very busy month! So we want to share with you what is going on so that you can please keep us in your prayers!

TIME WITH FAMILY

First of all, we are very excited to be able to spend time with Rebecca's family. Her parents arrived today and her sisters will be coming on Monday, October 10th. This has been a long awaited European vacation for the whole family and we are looking forward to our time with them! We are excited to be able to spend a week in the Salzburg, Austria area with them, show them around Germany, and have them meet many of our friends and the church family here in Herborn! Rebecca's parents will be leaving on October 21st and her sisters will be leaving on October 24th. Please pray that the Lord really blesses this time together as a family!

PACKING & FINALIZING DETAILS

We are also going to be packing up! We have officially bought our airline tickets to go back to California. We will be leaving on Monday, October 31st from Düsseldorf, Germany. The Lord has provided for us some amazing tickets to get back to California and the last flight was literally on October 31st. So this is a little sooner than we were thinking, but we know that we cannot pass this opportunity up and that we need to start moving forward with packing up. Although we will have to do a little bit of packing and cleaning while Rebecca's family is visiting, we will be doing the majority of our packing and cleaning during the last week of October! It is going to be a very busy week, but we know that the Lord will be providing some help for us to do all of this. As you might imagine, there are a lot of details that goes into all that will need to take place before the 31st of October, so we are asking you to please be praying for us as we make decisions, pack up, try to sell some of our stuff, etc. We are going to be then loading everything up with us and will be heading up to Düsseldorf on Saturday, October 29th.

LAST SUNDAY @ CC HERBORN

On Sunday, October 23rd, we will have our last Sunday with our church family here in Herborn! This will definitely be a mixed-emotion Sunday. We are joyous, because we have been richly blessed with our church family here in Herborn, and yet we are going to miss them. Please do be praying for that Sunday morning! May the Lord really bless that day and that time with them all!

TEACHING @ CC D-DORF

On Sunday, October 30th, I will be teaching at CC Düsseldorf. We are looking forward to have one last opportunity with the saints there in D-dorf as well! What a blessing it will be to worship with them and encourage them through God's Word the day before we leave back to California!

PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR US THROUGH ALL OF THIS! WE WILL NEED IT!

What a weekend

2011-10-03T23:43:00.001+02:00

This past weekend was such a blessing! So I thought that I would share with you what took place to keep you updated.

PFORZHEIM

On Friday afternoon, Erwin and I left Herborn to drive down to Pforzheim. This is where he is currently serving as the youth pastor of a FEG (Free Evangelical Church). I got to know Erwin at the beginning of this year, as he was my translator in Düsseldorf. Since then we have stayed in contact and he has asked me out a few time to come and share God's word with his youth. This particular Friday night, they had a special event with some youth from another church as well. There was around 40 youth in all and it was an honor to be able to bring forth a Gospel message. I do believe that the Lord spoke to many of the youth that night. I had the opportunity to pray with one of the young men and to encourage and challenge him in his walk with the Lord.
On Saturday morning, Erwin invited a few of his co-leaders and one of the youth (the young man that I prayed with the night before) to come over for a breakfast and a time together in God's Word. Erwin asked if I would share some things that have been very important for me in my walk with the Lord over the years. I originally had in my mind a few topics to share, but we really never got out of the topic of the Word of God and how important it is in our lives. We were all really able to open up and to share, ask questions, and pray for one another. That was really an encouragement. Erwin and I then drove home to Herborn and enjoyed a great time of fellowship during the car ride.

CC HERBORN

This past Sunday, at CCH, we had a Thanksgiving service with the whole family! The service was mixed with worship, a short devotion from Pastor Edmund, songs with the Children's Ministry (as you can see), testimonies that we submitted on the church's web site, and some personal testimonies as well. Oh yeah, one of the other great part of the service was a little video that the Children's Ministry put together, asking the children what they were thankful for. You can actually watch it on our church's web site. We were super stoked to see and barely hear both Katie and Aliyah be in the video. Both speaking in German! You got to check it out, even if you do not understand the German language, it is still so cute!

Now this next story is a little humbling, but I thought that I would share it with all of you more of a testimony of what the Lord does, so far our expectations. This picture to the left is a picture of me and a man that I had met after the morning service, named Peter. He has never been to our church before. In fact, he lives about an hour and a half north of us, in the city of Münster. After the service, I was outside, enjoying the weather, and talking to some of the people. One of the sisters in the church then came and brought Peter to me and introduced him to me. She told him, "Don't worry, he can speak German, so feel free to just talk to him in German." So Peter began to introduce himself, tell me where he was from, and why he wanted to talk to me. I cannot remember how, but somehow he was introduced to our church's podcast and he began to listen to the messages. Well this particular Sunday, he was in Wetzlar (a city about 15-20 minutes from Herborn) and he told his wife, "I have got to go to CC Herborn today, because I need to meet Joey Roper!" He went on to tell me how he has been listening to my messages through the podcast and how he is extremely blessed by them. Well, as you can imagine, I was completely blown away! Here is a man, whom I have never met before, and yet the Lord has been using me to speak into His life through His Word! How amazing is our GOD! May the Lord continue to speak to Peter and bless him as he continues to listen to God's Word via podcast during his drive everyday! PTL!

CC SIEGEN

On Sunday night, I had the blessed opportunity to teach at CC Siegen. A little after spending time in prayer with Rebecca at home on Sunday morning, I got a call from a friend of mine who is one of the pastors at CC Siegen and he asked me if I would be able to step in and teach for the Sunday evening service there! What an honor it was to do so! CCS is like the CC Costa Mesa of all of Europe, or at least for Germany. CCS has been here for over 20 years and the Lord has and still continues to use them in a mighty way! I do praise the Lord for all that He is doing through CCS! One of the treats for that night was to be able to be there when Andrea Kölsch shared how the Lord is calling her on from there, for a season. She will be leaving on Wednesday, October 5th, to fly to Santa Barbara, CA to go and serve there for at least 3 months. She is still waiting to hear back regarding her visa so that she can stay there longer, but she is stepping out in faith to see what the LORD is going to do! Andrea is a dear sister in the Lord, who has been serving at CCS for over 20 years as well in the area of worship. She is really gifted. She is simply stepping out and going to see what the Lord is going to do! I knew that when she began to share what was going on with her, with the church, that the message was going to be perfect for her.... and it was!

I thank the Lord for that opportunity that He gave me to share His Word throughout this weekend. Whether it was to a group of youth, a small group of men, or with a few hundred people in Siegen, I am completely honored and humbled by it all! To HIM ALONE BE THE GLORY!

On the way...

2011-09-30T17:02:00.001+02:00

We are on the way to Pforzheim right now. Tonight I will be proclaiming the Gospel to a group of youth!!

Please do be praying for salvation and an outpouring of His Spirit!

Thanks!

Endlich. Sommer

2011-09-29T16:56:00.001+02:00

So we are finally entering into the summer season here in Deutschland. Hahaha. This is in celcius, so it should be in the mid 70's to the low 80's. I know that is not much, but hey, I will take it!

Last Night & Looking Ahead

2011-09-29T10:11:00.001+02:00

Thank you Jesus for last night! What an honor it was to be able to teach God's Word to His precious people! We finished the book of Micah. What a great message to finish off this book. What a great message to finish with on Wednesday nights. It was truly a gospel message. I would encourage you to listen to this message here. It will take a few a day or two to get on the website, but look for Micha 6-7. I do not say this because I taught the message. I say this because of what the message was.

LOOKING AHEAD

There was a verse that we briefly looked at last night that really challenged me. In fact, when I spent time in the Word and in prayer this morning, it was really in the back of my mind. So here is the verse:

"Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me."

Micah 7:7

Here, Micah boldly declares his trust in his God! He lived in a time when no one could be trusted, the faithful man had perished from the earth (Micah 7:2), and you could not even trust your own wife (Micah 7:5). The wickedness and the moral decay that had taken place with God's people was unfathomable. And yet, Micah declared, "I will look to the LORD..."

As I think about this personally, with the situation that we are currently in, I so desire to join in with Micah and say, "Lord, I look to You! I trust in You! I will wait for You! You will hear my prayers!" I believe that the Lord is looking for people who will fully trust Him. In fact, it says in 2 Chronicles 16:9,

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."

As you and I look ahead into our lives, we need to remember something. There is a really BIG GOD who is completely in control of all things. Do you really trust Him? Are you looking to Him?

This Week

2011-09-27T15:57:00.000+02:00

Hello Everyone!
So I wanted to let you know what is going on this week so that you can please keep us in your prayers.

MICAH

Tomorrow night we will be finishing the book of Micah. We will be looking at Micah 6 & 7. There are a lot of verses to go over, but I do pray that the Lord uses these verses to really speak into our lives. In the book of Micah, there are essentially 3 messages that Micah declares to the people. This will be his last message that we will be looking at.
It will also by our last message in the book of Micah and it will also be my last message that I will be teaching at CC Herborn on a Wednesday night! :(
I have been so extremely blessed and honored to be able to teach through God's Word on these Wednesday nights this past year, going through many of the Minor Prophets, teaching His word to His precious people. I do pray that the Lord is glorified in all that will go on tomorrow night!

FRIDAY NIGHT & SATURDAY MORNING

The Lord has opened up an opportunity for me once again to travel down to Pforzheim, Germany, to go teach some youth His Word. As far as I know, there may be a couple of youth groups there, so I will be proclaiming a Gospel message. Please do pray for the Lord to prepare these youth, myself as I prepare the message, and that He would bring forth salvation on Friday night!
On Saturday morning, I will have another opportunity to share with a small group of people and challenge them in their walks with the Lord!

I am really looking forward to this weekend and I really do covet your prayers!

SUNDAY - ERNTEDANK-GOTTESDIENST

On Sunday morning and evening we are going to be having a "Thanksgiving Service" here at the church. I don't want to give away some of the details that will be going on in this service, but I am looking forward to spending time with the saints here at CCH and enjoying our time with them. I can honestly say that I am so thankful for the brothers and sisters here in Herborn. My family and I have been so extremely blessed by all of them. Words cannot express our gratitude and thanksgiving for them!

So, it is going to be a busy week! Please keep us in your prayers!

Thank you

Love the Roper Family!

A Little Road Trip

2011-09-26T21:06:00.000+02:00

Today we had the opportunity to take a little road trip. Since Katie got out of school early and it was my day off, we decided to take the chance, on such a beautiful day, and have a little adventure in a city that the kids have never been to yet. Rebecca and I have been there before, but not the kids. So they were super excited to go to a new city. Here are a few pics of our day! As you can see....We had a blast! So this is obviously going to be for our German followers, but can you name the city by looking at the pictures?

Katie & Aliyah enjoying the ride

Noah - our little police man

The cuttest kids in the world!

Ride #2

facepainting!

Aliyah and Noah joined in the action as well

Quote. Grace

2011-09-24T19:18:00.003+02:00

God expects more failure from you than you expect from yourself. If you are in Christ, relax. Enjoy grace.

-Britt Merrick-

Church. What should it look like?

2011-09-23T09:13:00.000+02:00

Vertical Church from Harvest Bible Fellowship on Vimeo.

Change?

2011-09-21T19:48:00.004+02:00

Our Testimony?

2011-09-21T10:45:00.000+02:00

So I am currently reading through 2 Kings in the Old Testament and Hebrews in the New Testament. I am also slowly reading through a book entitled "50 People every Christian should Know" by Warren Wiersbe (I encourage you to get this book and read it). One thing that all of these have in common, at least where I am at right now currently, is the fact that I am reading about the lives of men and women who left a testimony. As I read through the kings in 2 Kings, there is a common theme taking place.

"He did evil in the sight of the Lord..."

"He did what was right in the sight of the Lord..."

As I will be reading through Hebrews 11(Really Slow), this is what it says in vs.2

"And by it (faith) the elders obtained a good testimony."

Obviously in the book by Warren Wiersbe, I am reading a 2-5 page history lesson about a man or woman believer from the past.

As I stop and think about this, I begin to think... What testimony will I leave behind? If someone was to write a 2-5 page write up on my life, what would they write? If someone would read a brief overview of my life, would it say, "Joey did what was right in the sight of the Lord?" You see, I think we really need to stop and think and even ask ourselves... "What am I doing with the life that the Lord has given to me?" So often we can get consumed into things, that in the end, will not even matter. We can invest all of our time, energy, effort, strength, resources, money, etc. into this thing, but is it what is pleasing to the LORD?

I want to encourage you today to really take stock on your life. Examine yourself. Let the Lord speak to you regarding the area(s) that need to change so that you are living that life unto Him, fully pleasing Him.

As I already mentioned, I am going to be reading through Hebrews 11, but this time really slow. With it, I am going to be reading through Britt Merrick's book entitled, BIG GOD. This is a book that I have already read before, but I am going to do it once again. As most of you may know, Hebrews 11 is a chapter about faith. This has been a subject that the Lord has really been challenging me on and speaking to me on. So this is why I am going to be reading through Hebrews 11 really slow and allow the Lord to do the deep work that is needed in my heart as it pertains to faith and trusting in Him. I can already say that the Lord is really 'nailing' me on some things. He is so good and gracious to do that, isn't He?

If you are stuck at a place where you do not know what you should be reading, I would invite you to join me to read through Hebrews 11, get Big God, and let the Lord speak to you!

May we be those who leave a testimony of FAITH!

Roper Family Update

2011-09-18T20:59:00.002+02:00

Erntedank-Gottesdienst

2011-09-14T15:27:00.001+02:00

On Sunday, October 2nd, CC Herborn will be having a Erntedank-Gottesdienst (Thanksgiving Service). This does not have anything to do with Thanksgiving like in the States, but the church will be pausing the study in 1 John to have a family service to thank the Lord for all that He has done.

In Psalm 92:1, it says, "It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High"
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, it say, "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

I could share tons of verses that have to do with thanking the Lord for who He is and what He has done! I do believe that the Lord will do a great work of His Spirit in the lives of the people. I look forward to the service!

I believe that it is important to stop and give thanks to the Lord! Why? So often we are complainers! That's right! Complainers! We become like little children, whining and complaining about.... well.... you name it and we have probably complained about it! And yet when we really stop and think about all that the LORD has done for us, we have so much to be thankful for!

To those of you who are reading this and you attend CC Herborn, I want to encourage you to go to the church's website and to look for this same graphic. Right below it you can click the little plus (+) sign. You can fill in your name and then write (in 30 words or less) what you are thankful for!
Go do it right now!

Continuing through Micah

2011-09-13T22:22:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow night we will continue through the book of Micah. There are only two more studies in this book and then we will be finished. I cannot believe how fast we are going through this book! Tomorrow night we will be focusing on chapter 5 and will be looking at "The Coming Ruler." I do encourage you to read through this chapter and then come prepared to hear what it is the Lord would desire to speak to us.
For those of you who cannot come to the service, I ask of you to please be praying for this teaching. Please do pray for the preparation time and as well, the time of declaration. Pray that the LORD would really speak to us as we look at Jesus in the Old Testament!

Quote from Spurgeon

2011-09-13T07:21:00.001+02:00

How blessed to feel assured that the Lord is with us in all our ways, and condescends to go down into our humiliations and banishments with us! Even beyond the ocean our Father's love beams like the sun in its strength. We cannot hesitate to go where Jehovah promises his presence. "Fear not" is the Lord's command and his divine encouragement to those who at his bidding are launching upon new seas; the divine presence and preservation forbid so much as one unbelieving fear. Without our God we should fear to move; but when he bids us go it would be dangerous to tarry. Reader, go forward, and fear not.

Internet and Phones

2011-09-12T13:49:00.001+02:00

So we wanted to let all of our friends and family know that our phones and Internet are both working again. Praise the Lord!
You never realize how much this stuff is important until you cannot use it.

Last Weekend - Jon Bauer

2011-09-09T12:03:00.002+02:00

Last Sunday evening, we were super blessed to have Jon Bauer out once again. This is his 3rd year here in Germany and we have had the opportunity to have him here at CC Herborn all 3 years! This year we did it a little different. Instead of having him and his band on a Sunday morning for a service, we did more of a family concert. At the beginning of the night, he led the kids in a few songs where he pulled them up onto the stage and had them do the hand motions. He also pulled up Pastor Edmund and myself to be a part of it! It was pretty funny. I picked Noah up and danced with him as we sang these different worship songs to the Lord! The kids were then dismissed to the children's ministry where they watched a movie and had some popcorn! The adults were then led in worship, songs by Jon Bauer, and testimonies throughout the night! Many people were blessed!

It was a special treat to have Jon's parents with him this year! For the past 3 years, Jon's mom has been faithfully following our blog and so it was so great to meet her! It was so funny to talk with her, because she knew everything about us! It was great as well to have them go up onto the stage and have them share with the congregation IN GERMAN! I believe that many people were shocked when Jon's dad began to speak in German, because he didn't have an accent at all.

We are so thankful for Jon and his band and all that the LORD is doing in and through them! We do look forward to stay in contact with them and, Lord willing, continue to connect in the future!

If you have never heard of Jon Bauer, check him out here!

Something to think About

2011-09-07T15:30:00.003+02:00

3 years in Deutschland

2011-09-06T09:44:00.001+02:00

Yesterday marked 3 years for us living in Deutschland. I cannot believe it has already been three years. When I stop and think about it, I still remember the first day that we arrived. We had sold almost everything, packed all that we had in luggage bags, Rebecca was 4 months pregnant, we were dressed for weather in So Cal, and we were completely open for what the Lord would do in our lives in Germany. I even remember how Rebecca only had sandals and we had to wait a few days until the mission team from CC Chino Hills would be arriving in Düsseldorf, so that we could pick up the rest of our luggage that they brought for us. She was so thankful to get some shoes on so that her feet wouldn't be so cold! Oh the memories!

Now it is 3 years later. Katie is speaking alot of German and is in Grundschule (Elementary School). Aliyah is also speaking more and more German and is growing up so fast. Noah is now 2 1/2, and many of his first words are in German. Rebecca and I have changed many things in our lives, meaning, the way we live our lives. We will always be Americans, but we have really been influenced by the culture here. Although so many things are different between the two cultures, so many things are good and have been very helpful. Rebecca and I too are speaking the language, although we know we still have a lot to learn.

The church here in Herborn has been a complete blessing to us, more than we could even imagine! We are so thankful for each of them. I remember our first Sunday at the church. We didn't know anyone, the worship was in a foreign language, and everything was different. Now it is like home here. We are able to fully engage into the worship, communicate with the people, and so much more.

The Lord has done so much in our lives these past three years! I am so thankful for His grace, mercy, patience, faithfulness, goodness, love, etc.

We are completely humbled that the Lord has allowed us to be a part of His work in Europe!

Thank You JESUS!

Internet and phones

2011-09-02T21:09:00.001+02:00

Hello friends and family,
We just want to let you know that we have not been ignoring you if you have tried to call us or send an email. Our Internet and phones are not working at the moment. I guess this is one of those times that it is good to have an iPhone, huh. If you do need to get a hold of us, please do send an email, and then we will check them periodically at the church. Obviously I still do receive emails, but Rebecca will have to be checking her's once in a while.

Please pray that this can be resolved soon.

Thanks!

Technology is great when it works, and it stinks when it doesn't.

A weekend on FAITH

2011-09-02T17:15:00.000+02:00

Well, as I shared in a previous post, I wanted to share with all of you what took place this past weekend. The topic was definitely FAITH. The amazing thing about it is, we didn't really plan it at all, that is just how it worked out. So let me start with Caroline Gass...

Carol has been a really good friend of ours over these past few years. She has been one of our faithful babysitters, and has as well helped us out a few times in a few of our visits to the hospital. She is a registered nurse and used to work at a local hospital. For the past year, she has been attending the Bible College at CC Siegen and is now taking the step of faith towards California. It has been her heart's desire for years to go to the School of Worship at CC Costa Mesa, and it looks as though the door has finally opened. She actually left this past Wednesday for CA and will be spending the next semester there in Costa Mesa. She is praying to be able to stay for the whole year, but one step at a time. It was really encouraging to see her take this step of faith, as she has already made her way to CA and is looking to see what God is going to do. We look forward to all that the Lord wants to do in Carol's life as well. God bless you Carol!

And now we move onto the Nullmeier family...

The Nullmeier family has been serving the Lord in Kenya for the past five years. They are currently serving with a ministry called DIGUNA. They have been sent out by DIGUNA and are also supported through CC Herborn. We have had a few opportunities to speak with the Nullmeier family, but are looking to get to know them a little bit more as they will be spending the next year here in Germany. Rudiger (the father) is now in England, where he will be for the next 6 months going to a seminary there. The kids have already registered into school here and are already connecting with the kids in their classes. We do pray that this next year for them will be a great time of refreshment, encouragement, and so much more! Please do be praying for Karin as she will be taking care of their 4 kids over these next six months.

Lastly, we will share about the youth in Burbach, Germany...

This past Monday I had the opportunity, with Markus Ermert (my translator), to go and minister to a bunch of young men from the YMCA group in Burbach, Germany. The ages of these young men were from about 14-early 20's. One of the leaders of the group, Benny Ginsberg, goes to our church and had asked me if I would be able to share God's Word with these young men!
So Markus and I showed up a little early, to eat dinner with them, to kick the soccer ball around a little bit, and to spend a little time with them before we did the bible study. My mind was constantly thinking and praying about what the LORD would want to share with these young men. I had a few ideas on my mind, but since it took a while to get the fire going, by the time we started it was pretty dark, so we were no longer able to see our bibles. So I believed that the Lord wanted me to challenge these young men in a few areas. One of them was on the topic of FAITH! It is currently an area that I am being challenged to walk in and so I figured I would stay in this topic!
I do pray that the young men were challenged and that they would really consider what the LORD wants to do in their lives! I do ask that you would please pray for this young men's group in Burbach. The Lord is doing a great work there, but they could always use your prayers!

Now, I am looking forward to this weekend! Jon Bauer is going to be here in Sunday Night for a concert! It should be good! If you can, come on out, you won't want to miss it!

Powerful, Important Message

2011-09-01T11:11:00.002+02:00

This is a message that you NEED to listen to!

Too Fast...

2011-08-31T14:50:00.006+02:00

So I had to share this with all of you! Before I tell you about the conversation that I had with Katie today, let me first share with you what happened yesterday. I was in our staff meeting here at the church when I received a phone call from home. It was around 12:20pm. When I said, "Hello," I was shocked to hear Katie on the other end of the phone. She was supposed to be getting out of school at 1:00pm, but she was already home and she had big news to tell me. What was it? SHE WALKED HOME ALL BY HERSELF. SHE KNEW THE WAY HOME! She was so proud of herself!

So today I thought that I would have a good time with her and walk with her home. I told her that I wanted her to show me the way that she walked yesterday. She would lead and I would follow. So this is where it gets funny. On the way home Katie began to say the following words, "Daddy, does this mean that I can have a key now? So that when I get home I can just open the door?" I began to think, 'Man she is growing up way too fast!' Then the following words continued to come out of her mouth. "And can I also have a phone? That way when I need to talk to you on the way home, I can just give you a call." OH MY GOODNESS! It is a good thing that she finished by saying this in her very next statement. "Oh wait, I don't know your number, so I don't need a phone yet, but can I have a key?"

This little girl is growing up way too fast!

Micah Continues Tonight

2011-08-31T12:07:00.004+02:00

It has been a few weeks since we have been in the book of Micah. The previous two weeks I was gone at the Missions Conference in Austria and also a parent meeting for Katie's school. So I am looking forward to getting back into it. Tonight we are going to be studying through Micah 2 & 3. We are going to be considering the importance of godly leadership.
I encourage you to read ahead and if possible, come with a ready heart and mind to hear from the LORD.
Looking forward to seeing you there tonight!

Be checking in again as I will be posting some pics and information of what the Lord did this past weekend here in Herborn, Germany!

God is Able

2011-08-26T10:18:00.001+02:00

In Awe

2011-08-22T11:50:00.005+02:00

Awe. Humbled. Amazed. Grace. Prayer. Worship. Fellowship. Gospel. Jesus. God. Holy Spirit. Humbled. Awe.
These are just some of the words that come to my mind regarding my time in Austria at the missions conference. I am so thankful that the Lord provided all of the money for the expenses to go to this conference. For all of you who financially gave to help support this conference, I want to thank you. I do pray that the Lord blesses you abundantly in return.
Originally I was not thinking about going at all to this years conference due to lack of funds for the travels and conference cost, but when the money was provided for the cost of the conference, I began to think, "Maybe I could go." During this same time I had finished reading through some books where I was challenged to get away for a few days to really go seek the Lord for what it is that He wants to do in our lives. So I then talked about it with Rebecca, and she said, "You can go."
So to get more to the point, the whole purpose of this conference for us as a family, though I was the only one to go, was to really get away for a few days and go seek the Lord. So I really came with the expectation of, "Lord, I need You to speak!" And that is exactly what He did. Every single time in the Word, every single session, every time that I got away to go sit at His feet and spend time to seek after Him, He spoke. There is so much that I could share, and Lord willing in the future I will be doing that, but I simply want to testify to you right now, that when we as God's people seek after Him with all of our hearts, He is faithful to meet us and speak to us!
I was so blessed to re-unite with many of the missionaries that are serving the Lord all throughout Europe. The fellowship, times of worship, Bible Studies, times praying with one another, will be something that I will never forget!

I am so thankful and humbled to be in the midst of what God is doing here in Europe! I pray that HE will continue to be GLORIFIED in all that is taking place here!
Please read Colossians 4:2 and continue to be praying for the work that is taking place here!

Thank you so much!

1st Day of School

2011-08-21T18:28:00.004+02:00

It has been almost two weeks now since Katie had her first day of school, but this is my first opportunity to post this video. What a special day it was to see our little girl make this next step in her life and go to school - ALL IN GERMAN!
We are so proud of her!

1st Day of School from Joey Roper on Vimeo.

Weather

2011-08-18T16:40:00.005+02:00

Ok, so I have been wanting to write about this for quite a while now, but I am finally deciding to do it. I know that it is not really that important, but, hey, it is something that has to do with our daily lives here in Germany. As you may know, I am currently at the missions conference in Austria. God has been so faithful and has provided for me to be here! Thank you Jesus! I am so thankful! Actually it is quite humbling being here. Anyways, so back to this topic. What is it? THE WEATHER.
I have got to be honest with you! One thing that I do enjoy about being here in Germany is the fact that we do really have 4 actual seasons. Each one of them has their beauty! But this is the deal.... the summer here has absolutely stunk. Actually, we really haven't had too much of a summer. Some people in our church tell me, "Come on Joey, we had some warm days back in April." To which I reply, "That was spring! I am talking about summer." Anyways, it is kind of a joke, but I can honestly say that these past two days have actually been hot, sunny, ..... SUMMER. So this is another reason I am thankful to be in Austria right now.
The picture here is taken during my morning devotions on the dock at the lake.

Please continue to pray! God is speaking - still seeking to hear more!

Expecting to Hear...

2011-08-16T23:54:00.004+02:00

So it is midnight here in Austria and I have safely arrived to the Missions Conference. I will be here until Saturday and then will fly home. I am so thankful that the Lord has totally provided for me to be here.
Although I will be joining in on the conference in the middle, I am coming with a completely open heart, ready to hear, and expecting to hear from my Lord.

I do ask that each of you would please be praying for my wife and I to really hear from the Lord this week. Although Rebecca and the kids are back in Herborn, we are really wanting to hear from the Lord.

Please pray for us!

thank you!

What is God Speaking?

2011-08-10T09:24:00.004+02:00

I do know about you, but I absolutely love reading the Word of God! This book has absolutely changed my life! It is the only book in the world that will truly change anyone's life - completely! I can honestly say that the first time that I remember the Lord really grabbing a hold of my heart and mind in regards to the Word of God was when I was in 6th grade. I was around 11 years old, when my Sunday School teacher said, "Bring your bibles next week. We are going to start to study through it." Although that is a very short and simple statement, that very statement gripped my heart and my mind. From that point on, the LORD really began to give me a hunger for His Word! I am now 31 years old and have been reading through the bible for around 15-20 years. Oh my gosh! Writing that down seems crazy! Although I have read through it and have learned so much over the years, I know that I honestly have so much more to learn. God is constantly speaking! Do you believe that? I do! I have been ENJOYING Jesus so much in His Word!Now I would like to ask you: What has He been speaking to you? What are you currently reading? How has He been challenging you? How has He been convicting you? Anything else you would like to share - go for it!

Simply do this - share your details through the COMMENTS - I really hope to hear from you!

By the way - I am super stoked and privileged to be able to teach His Word tonight as we start the book of Micha! Please be praying for tonight's study!

Do You Trust Jesus?

2011-08-10T09:17:00.008+02:00

I am not sure if you have seen this short little video or not, but I think it is a pretty good one to check out. How much do we trust Jesus?

Last Night & This Week

2011-08-08T10:26:00.005+02:00

Last night Rebecca and I were super blessed to meet with our support team over Skype. We had a few technical difficulties at the beginning, but the Lord worked everything out and we were able to hear from them and also share with them what the Lord is doing in our lives. This picture was taken when we had a chance to meet with them in April of 2010. We are very blessed to have a team that we can meet with bi-monthly over Skype and who faithfully prays for us. What an encouragement it was to dialogue with each of them.
Looking at this picture reminds me of how blessed we are as a family to have a team behind us, supporting us, praying for us, and so much more. But another thing I realize is that the Lord has not only blessed us with these great friends, but that He has also blessed us with another team, or better yet, I should say, our families back home who as well faithfully pray for us, encourage us, and so much more. So we want to thank each of you who faithfully support us through prayers, encouragement, finances, and so much more! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

THIS WEEK
This week there are a few things that we will be starting! One of them is the book of Micha. Starting this Wednesday night, we as a Church, will begin to study through the book of Micha! I am looking forward to what it is the Lord is going to teach us through this 7 chapter book. I do want to ask you to please be praying for us as we go through this book. Not that we would only be growing in our knowledge of God's Word, but that His Word would be changing us as a people and that we would become more like Him! I have been extremely blessed and challenged as we have been studying through the Minor Prophets and so I am looking forward to this next one!

Another thing that will be starting this week is..... Katie will have her first day of 1st grade TOMORROW and Aliyah will begin to go to kindergarten all by herself! Oh my goodness! We cannot believe it! How did our little baby girls who I used to be able to hold in my hand grow up so fast? Katie is already starting 1st grade and it is all going to be in German! We are so proud of both of them! We do ask that you would REALLY be praying for both of them as they make this next step in their adventure by themselves. Katie seems to be really excited right now and Aliyah is not! She doesn't want to go to school without her big sister! So please be praying for them! Thank you so much!

Church Retreat - so Thankful!

2011-08-07T18:05:00.005+02:00

We have been back now in Germany for almost a week now since our time at the Church Retreat in Austria. So I want to give you all a little update of what took place during the church retreat. The first thing that I want to share is how extremely we were blessed to even be a part of the retreat this year. A few weeks before the retreat, I talked with Pastor Edmund and let him know that we were not going to be able to go to the retreat this year because we did not have the finances for it. We were bummed, but we were okay with it. A day or two after I told Pastor Edmund, I came home for lunch and saw that the mail had come. So when I opened it up, there was an envelope with the picture of the castle there in Austria and our name on it. I then opened the envelope, which had enough money for us as a family to go to the retreat! I asked Rebecca if she knew who did this, to which she replied, "I have no idea." So we immediately thanked the LORD and asked Him to bless whoever it was who did this for us. What a blessing! We still did not have enough money for the travels down there and back, but we knew that God was so good and that He would be faithful.

I do believe that the Lord really blessed this week and that a great work of His Spirit was done in each of our lives. One of the things that I really enjoyed was to simply watch our kids play with some of their best friends there at the castle. Sorry that I do not have a picture, but it was so amazing to sit there and kind of "trip out" on it all. There we were, in Austria, staying in a castle, our kids were having a blast, we were blessed with good weather, and so much more. Coming from SoCal, it still hits me as if it were the first days in Europe. God is so gracious!

Thank you JESUS for blessing us - even though we do not deserve it - such GRACE!

Here are a few pics for you to enjoy:

A picture of Joey teaching on "Servants of the Kingdom"

A picture of Kruno getting baptized, the swan joined in on the event!

Rebecca and I - we were extremely blessed - thank you JESUS!

Get Dominic Balli's CD!

2011-08-05T16:09:00.003+02:00

A good friend of mine, Dominic Balli, has just come out with his brand new CD! I want to encourage you all to get it! I just got it through iTunes yesterday and am already loving it!

Book Recommendation

2011-08-05T10:03:00.006+02:00

The other day I finished reading through Francis Chan's book, Forgotten God. This was a book that I have desired to read for a while now, but I didn't have it. Recently at a conference, I was given this book as a gift and so I was super stoked to read through it. Have already read through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, I was looking forward to reading through this one as well.
I have personally read many books on the topic of the Holy Spirit and have also taught many studies on the Holy Spirit throughout the years. This topic is a very important topic and yet it is a topic that is very misunderstood. Being a missionary here in Germany now for almost three years, if there is one topic that needs to be continually taught, it is this one. The very work that is so desperately needed in this land, is the work of the Holy Spirit, and yet, He is so often neglected, rejected, and told to "stay away from."
May the following statement challenge you to get this book and read through it.

"POWERFUL. When is the last time someone used that word to describe you? It doesn't make sense that Almighty God would have children characterized by fear and insecurity. He put His Spirit in us so we could be known for our power. Sadly, most believers and churches are known for talent or intellect rather than supernatural power. What's worse is that we're okay with it. Could it be that we've forgotten the One who distinguishes us from every religion and cult in the world?"

The ONE you need

2011-08-04T15:45:00.004+02:00

Church Retreat -Day 1

2011-07-26T13:10:00.001+02:00

So we have officially started the church retreat. The first session was this morning. Pastor Mark, our guest speaker, started it off challenging us out of Philippians 3:20. We considered how we live, act, and behave as citizens of heaven, yet living here on earth.

Here are some pics from the church retreat... so far

Katie was missing, but I still wanted to share this with you

Too cold to go in, but still having fun on the dock.

Church Retreat Starts Today!

2011-07-24T17:52:00.001+02:00

Today is the beginning of our church retreat. It is just a little bit until we eat dinner, but I thought I would share a few pics and prayer requests. So here are a few pics.

Noah swinging outside the castle.

Now don't get me wrong. This is absolutely beautiful view. I love it. But there is one MAJOR thing wrong with it. IT IS SUMMER!! Do you see the snow on the Alps in the back?

Please pray for Aliyah. She already had an accident. She has a cut below her chin right now. We are praying for healing and hoping we don't have to take her to get stitches.

Please pray for a mighty work of God's Spirit this week. I am already sensing a bit of warfare! Pray that the Lord would use us to be servants this week!

Thank You!

Family Time before the Retreat

2011-07-23T20:44:00.007+02:00

Today was a free day to relax and be refreshed before the church retreat starts tomorrow. We slept in and ate a wonderful breakfast with the Ornelas family and some other missionaries that stopped by from Italy. Later on in the afternoon, Daniel took us on a walk to go to the Drau River. It had rained ealier in the day, but when the weather opened up, we decided to go. We are so stoked that we went! The weather was absolutely beautiful and the water was not too cold to play in. To be here in Austria once again, surrounded by the Alps, with friends and my beautiful family, what can I say ...... PRICELESS! Here are some pics of our time at the Drau River.

Sorry that we didn't get any of Noah. Don't worry, some will be coming throughout the week!

Book Recommendation

2011-07-22T20:42:00.005+02:00

Last week I finished reading through John Piper's book, don't waste your life. This is a book that we had bought last year when we were in California. I have been wanting to read it for a while now, but I always seemed to pick some other books instead. Anyways, I can honestly say that I was challenged by this book. The only problem is... I spent too long reading through it. Because of different things going on, I only got to read it once in a while. I don't normally like that because then I forget what I read through last, so it takes a little more time and effort.

I am not sure where you are at right now in your walk with the Lord, but I would definitely encourage you to get this book and read through it. I love how John Piper constantly brings it back to what the purpose of our life is... to glorify the Lord and to really enjoy Him.

Something really stood out to me towards the end of this book. It is at a point where he really begins to lay it out and challenge the reader to consider what it is the Lord wants to do in and through their life. He encourages the reader to, if need be, get away for a few days with a Bible and a notepad and to really seek the Lord what it is that He has called them to do that would make the nations be glad in Him. Maybe you don't have the time to do that, but I do think it is important for each of us to make sure that we are doing that which the Lord created us to do.

We have one life, may our lives truly be lived to glorify Jesus in all that we do!

Kindergarten. World Cup. Austria

2011-07-22T14:49:00.008+02:00

So it is now time to catch up on a few events that have taken place in these past weeks. I just have not had the time to share with you about them. So here we go:

KINDERGARTEN
On July 15, Katie and Aliyah had there last day of Kindergarten! As we have shared with you in the past, the kindergarten here is a little different than in California. Here in Germany, you can take your kids to the kindergarten from a young age all the way through the actual kindergarten year. So it is actually like a day care, preschool, and kindergarten all in one. So Katie is officially done with kindergarten and will begin Grundschule (1st grade) in just 3 weeks! Aliyah is done with here preschool year and will begin here kindergarten year also in 3 weeks.
We are so proud our our beautiful girls. We remember the first day that Katie and Aliyah attended their first day of kindergarten and were not able to speak of word of German. Now they are both able to speak it very well and are continuing to learn more and more. Katie is further along, as she has been in it for a year more than Aliyah, but we are so proud of the both of them!
Once again, we are so proud of our girls! They are growing up so fast and speaking two languages!
Here are some pics of them with a few of their teachers at the Kindergarten

Katie, Marion, and Aliyah - Marion is a new believer in our church!

Katie, Anja, and Aliyah - Anja was one of the girl's teachers

WORLD CUP
On Sunday, July 17th, Rebecca's 33rd birthday, Rebecca and I were able to go to the final world cup game between USA and Japan. It was absolutely amazing! To be honest, it was the best sporting event that I have ever been to in my life! Our seats were absolutely amazing! We sat directly behind the goal were 3 of the 4 goals were scored, just a little to the left. We were only 6 rows back! You can see below!
Having played soccer my entire life, it was so amazing to see how good both of these teams were. Obviously I was paying more attention to how the US women were playing, which I have got to say, they are REALLY good! This was my first time ever going to a professional soccer game. It is so much better than watching on the TV. To see the ball control, the passing, the strength, and agility of these women playing, I was really amazed! They were really good!
Although USA lost, we had an absolute blast! We are so proud of our women and how well they played! GO USA!

AUSTRIA
So we are here in Austria! We have arrived a few days early to prepare and be ready for our Church Retreat that will begin on Sunday afternoon. We left this morning at 3am and were able to get to Munich in just 3 1/2 hours, get some gas, eat some breakfast, and then get back on the road. We then arrived here 3 hours later. So 6 1/2 total hours of driving. That was definitely the best for us. The kids did really good in the car.
We are going to be staying with the Ornelas family the next couple of days before the retreat! We are super blessed to be hosted by them once again and to be able to spend time with them.
One of the other blessings is the fact that we get to be at this year's retreat. We were planning on not going at all, because we did not have the money for it, and then, the LORD completely provided through a few people, some of whom we are still not aware of who it is! May the Lord bless them for this!
We are looking forward to what the Lord wants to do at this year's church retreat and how He wants to minister to us as well! We do ask that you would please be praying throughout this week for the 51 people that we have at this years retreat!
Thank you so much for your prayers!

Last night and Looking Ahead

2011-07-21T08:21:00.002+02:00

Last night we looked at 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 and considered the topic of "On Mission with Jesus." This topic is a really broad topic and cannot be totally covered in a 45 minute study, but we simply looked at our text and considered three points. 1) The Mission of Jesus 2) Our Mission with Jesus 3) Taking Jesus into "Our World."
I do believe that the Lord really blessed it and that many were encouraged, challenged, convicted, etc. One of the things that we did at the end of the message was to reflect on three questions. Here they are:

1)What priorities need to change in my life so that I can be realigned and "On Mission with Jesus?"

2) How can I become that ambassador that Jesus has called me to be?

3) How can I bring Jesus into "my world?"

We did this first individually during the time of worship and then broke into groups of two or three and spent time discussing these questions and prayed for one another.

I do pray that as we look ahead that each of us who were there tonight would not simply listen to this message, but that we would go forward and put it into practice.

On Mission with Jesus - Tonight!

2011-07-20T13:44:00.004+02:00

Looking forward to tonight's service as we consider the topic, "On Mission with Jesus." I pray that the Lord will speak in a radical way! May His people be stirred, empowered, and sent out afresh in Him!

We are Going!

2011-07-15T20:22:00.001+02:00

Late Wednesday night I saw that USA won their match against France and that Japan beat Sweden. While watching some videos about those two games, it was then that I realized that the final game will be played in Frankfurt. Only 1 hour away from my house. So then I asked Rebecca in Thursday morning, "What would you think about going to the championship game on Sunday night if I can get some tickets?" Sunday is Rebecca's birthday. She responded, "That would be cool!" So I immediately began to ask for help in trying to get some tickets!

To make a long story short, we were able to get some tickets off of EBay. They arrived in the mail today and so here I am with them. I can't believe it! The seats are really good too! We have never been to any kind of championship game in my life, so we are really looking forward to it!

If you want to hear the story of how we got the tickets, then let me know in the comments and I will let you know. It is really a good one!

What a Marvelous Night

2011-07-14T14:37:00.006+02:00

This past Wednesday night was an absolute blast! How blessed we were to be able to hear from Ronja Fritzsche as she shared about what the Lord did in and through her with her time in Jamaica. How marvelous it was to hear her testify of all of the things that He changed within her. Glory to God!
When I look back now, I believe that Ronja is only 2 1/2 - 3 years old in Christ and yet He has been teaching her and changing her so much. I have been personally blessed to be a part of it and to see the Lord take a young woman who was lost in her sin and transform her into being that disciple of Jesus. One thing that is definitely evident in Ronja's life is the joy of the Lord!

Here is a little video of her sharing her Jamaican songs with the church this past Wednesday night. Both in German and in English!

Ronja and I after the service

The Church laid hands on Ronja and prayed over her at the end of the service! What a blessing! She flies back to Jamaica today! May God be glorified in her life!

On Mission with Jesus

2011-07-14T13:55:00.004+02:00

These past couple of months we have had the opportunity to hear from many of our missionaries that are serving the Lord around the world. What an encouragement it has been to not only see them, but to hear what the Lord is doing in and through them. But I have a few questions for each of us to consider. What about you? What about me? What is God doing in and through our lives? Do we have to be missionaries in foreign lands to be used of the Lord? Do we have to sell everything, move across the world, and learn another language in order to see the 'mighty works of God?' I want to personally invite you to come to this Wednesday night service, July 20th, at 19:30 to come and hear what God's Word says to us about being "On Mission with Jesus" (Auf Mission mit Jesus).
Looking forward to seeing you there!
God Bless!
Pastor Joey

Operation: Bless a Child

2011-07-14T11:45:00.003+02:00

Hello Everyone
Here is a short little video that we also want to share with you. Check it out first and then click here to see more about it.

Declaring Jesus!

2011-07-08T13:51:00.006+02:00

The following pictures are photos that we taken at the baptism service for CC Düsseldorf. When I saw these photos, I was so encouraged and I wanted to share them with all of you. One of my good friends, Edmund Coronel Jr. is the pastor of CC D-dorf and the Lord is really doing a great work of His Spirit in the church there. What a blessing to be able to see, hear, and at times be a part of this work!
I some of these photos you might notice a few of the people that are being baptized. Waldemar and Anabella! They are the ones that earlier this year accepted the Lord and then asked me to be a part of their wedding. Since that time, they have been attending CC D-dorf and on Sunday, June 26th, they made that public declaration of living for Jesus! What a blessing it is to see these pics, I HAD TO SHARE THIS WITH YOU!

If you want to see all of the photos, then click here.

Waldemar's baptism

Anabella giving testimony before getting baptized!

Waldemar giving testimony - maybe he will be doing more of this in the future ?!?!?!

Pastor Edmund Jr. giving forth the Word of God

Waldemar & Anabella after their baptisms!

Lord willing we will be having our church's baptism this Sunday morning! Please be praying for the weather and as well the lives of all of those who will be attending the service. The gospel will be going forth and people will be declaring Jesus! Looking forward to it!

Last Night

2011-07-08T13:43:00.006+02:00

Ok, so I had to share this with all of you. Last night we had the opportunity to go to dinner with Edmund and Martha, Janell and James, and Markus and Antonia. It was Jenell and James' last night here in Herborn before they headed back to Düsseldorf and then back to CA. So we went to a restaurant that we have often heard about, but have yet had the chance to go to. It is this little restaurant in the middle of a little village that serves REALLY BIG steaks! All different types. This picture here is the MIDDLE SIZED oxen steak that I ate last night. It was sooooooo good. The picture does not even do it justice. Maybe if you click on the picture it will blow it up and do it a little more justice, but anyways, it was good. We had a great time and we were stoked to be able to spend an evening with Jenell and James before they went back to CA!

Whats Been Going On

2011-07-07T15:20:00.011+02:00

These past weeks many things have been going on and I really have not had the time to keep you all updated as much as I would like to. So I am deciding to give you all a little update with each situation.

10 Year Dating Anniversary
This past Saturday, July 2nd, Rebecca and I celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary. We once again went to one of our favorite cities to visit here in Germany, the city of Marburg. Rebecca was able to do a little shopping and then we spent some time walking through different parts of the city that we had never walked through before. Normally we go to our favorite restaurant there in the city, but this time we wanted to go somewhere else, and so we kept checking out different places and even sat down at one restaurant. It was funny as we were asked where we were from. We then told them, "California." To which the waitress replied, "Wow! Your German is really good! What brings you to this restaurant here in Marburg?" As we began to tell her that it was our 10 year dating anniversary, she looked at us kind of puzzled. They don't really celebrate dating anniversaries here in Deutschland. Come to think of it, most people do not celebrate their dating anniversary, but this is something that I grew up experiencing from my parents. They have been celebrating there wedding and dating anniversary all of my life. So way to go dad! Thanks for being a great example for me! We had a blessed time and ended up eating at another restaurant on the way home, one of the best Italian Restaurants that are in this area for sure!

Anaya Marie Roper
On July 3, 2011, Anaya Marie Roper entered into the lives of the Roper Family. My sister Stephanie gave birth to Anaya on July 3 at 10:19pm. She is 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches long. Stephanie has been sending us pictures almost everyday to give us those daily updates! We are looking forward to the day that we will be able to meet our new little niece, Anaya! We do praise the Lord that all of the delivery process went well and that there were not too many complications! What a precious little gift the Lord has given to Stephanie!

Finishing Amos
Last night we finished the book of Amos and I do believe that the Lord really blessed our time of worship, prayer, the study of His Word, and communion. It was such a blessing to open it up for a period of time after the message and the worship to give the people an opportunity to give thanks and praise to the Lord. If it wasn't getting so late, we probably could have continued to go on for quite a while! I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to teach God's Word to the precious people here at CC Herborn and look forward to the next minor prophet that we will study through, Obadiah. Once again if you are interested in listening to the studies of Amos, click here.

Praying Over Claudia
Last night, as we ended the service, we all, as a church, surrounded Claudia Nickel, laid our hands on her and prayed for her. I could not help of Acts 13 when the people where there ministering to the Lord and then the Spirit of God spoke and set to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work to which He called them to. What a blessing it was to have been ministering to the Lord, in worship and prayer, and then to lay hands upon Claudia once again and ask that she would be sent back out in the power of the Holy Spirit! May the Lord truly be glorified in all that Claudia does there in Peru!

Finishing Amos Tonight

2011-07-06T09:41:00.004+02:00

Tonight we will be coming to the close of the book of Amos. We will be looking into and studying the final two chapters. As we come to the end of this book, I have to honestly say that the Lord really spoke to me a lot through Amos. The book of Amos is not a book that many people would turn to in order to be encouraged, as most of it is speaking about the judgment of God's people because of their rebellion and disobedience. But the Lord has really spoken to me about the life of a prophet through the life of Amos. I have been challenged with the reality of staying near to the Lord; to hear the heart beat of the Lord and to know the words of the Lord to declare to His people. I have been challenged on what it would mean to be a faithful prophet, in the midst of opposition, and to faithfully declare the word of the Lord to His people. A key point that has really stood out to me through this book has been... where are the prophets of today? Where are the men and women of God who will stand up and speak forth the truth in today's generation and not have the fear of men? I do believe that the Lord is looking for them.... no .... let me say it better. I believe that we are here and that the Lord is calling us to this, but we need to stand up and be faithful to proclaim the word of the Lord to His people.
Is it you?

Next Week
I want to encourage all of you who will have the opportunity to be here at CC Herborn next Wednesday night to come and be blessed by our sister Ronja Fritzsche. She will be sharing with us about her time in Jamaica! Come and be blessed with her testimony and some music that she will be sharing with us! I am really looking forward to it!
Don't miss out!

This Coming Sunday

2011-07-01T13:30:00.007+02:00

CLAUDIA NICKEL
I am looking forward to seeing and hearing from Claudia Nickel, one of our missionaries here at CC Herborn who is currently ministering in Peru. She is home for a 3-4 week break and then will be returning back to the ministry there in Peru. This coming Sunday morning she will be sharing and giving an update of all that the Lord is doing in and through her. Looking forward to that!
When we first came to Herborn, Claudia was a faithful servant here at the church and I am blessed that I had the opportunity to serve alongside her as long as we were able to. She definitely has a genuine love for Jesus and she is a true servant! I do pray that she will be able to encourage the body here at CC Herborn and that she will be blessed and refreshed as well!

1 JOHN
We will also be starting the epistle of 1 John this Sunday as well. I do pray that the Lord would use this short, and yet powerful little epistle to encourage the body here at CC Herborn. Looking forward to study through it once again!

Health

2011-06-29T22:12:00.001+02:00

Hello Everyone
Well this is something that we do praise the Lord that we have not dealt with in quite a while now, but we are once again dealing with some health issues. Nothing too major, but when it starts hitting everyone in the family, it just seems like it lasts so long. It first started with Noah as he has the cough, runny nose, etc. That lasted for a week and now he is better. Aliyah started to catch it, but is also doing better. This past Monday afternoon I (Joey), started feeling sick to my stomach. I eventually threw up and then had a really high fever. It is Wednesday evening now and my fever has been fine and my stomach is almost back to normal. It is still feeling a little queasy every once in a while. Now Rebecca is starting to feel the stomach sickness.

So if you could please keep our health in your prayers, that would be great. Please also pray that the kids do not get what I had and maybe what Rebecca is getting. Please pray for a complete healing.
Thank you!

Love the Roper Family

Update with my Dad

2011-06-25T15:23:00.004+02:00

Hello Everyone
I wanted to give all of you an update with my dad. First of all, I really want to thank each of you that have been praying for him. Just recently I called our home church CCCH, and talked with a few of the secretaries. Both of them immediately began to ask about my dad and let me know how they have been praying for him. What an encouragement it was to hear that from each of them. So once again, thank you!
I believe it was on Wednesday, June 22nd that my dad was finally able to go home! So it has been about 4 days now! I did get the chance to talk to him shortly after he arrived home. He was really glad to get out of the hospital and to be home. It has been a month since he was home last.
There is still a lot going on with him and he still has pneumonia. In fact, the type of pneumonia that he has is a rare and yet strong pneumonia that is known to be in Europe. So, he picked it up somewhere here in Europe. Bummer!

We do ask that you would please continue to be praying for him with his health situations. I know that both my dad and mom need wisdom with all of the next steps that will need to be made. So please keep them in your prayers.
Thank You

WORSHIP: this sunday

2011-06-24T12:18:00.003+02:00

This Sunday morning we are going to get back into our teachings series on the topic of WORSHIP. It has been a few months since we have last been in it, but once again, this is a series that we are going through when Pastor Edmund is out of town or is sick on a Sunday. Since Edmund and Martha are gone this weekend enjoying time with their daughter and son-in-law, he has asked me to teach for him while he is gone.

In this series we are looking at the Who, What, Why, Where, and How of Worship. In our last study we looked at the topic of "Who do we worship?" We have really been laying a foundation in this topic of worship, and now I believe we are going to be building upon that foundation. This weekend we are going to be considering the point of "Why do we worship?" I have personally been looking forward to this study and I am excited to see what the Lord desires to encourage us in this Sunday!

If you are interested in listening to these studies, click here. You can then choose the bar that says THEMA and then choose ANBETUNG. It will bring you directly to all of the teachings so far. Be blessed!

Amos Tonight

2011-06-22T09:25:00.003+02:00

Tonight we will continue to go through the book of Amos! We are going to be looking into a chapter that I have personally been waiting to teach through. There are many things that we could look at, but we will be focusing on two main points. Go ahead and read through Amos 7 and may the Lord speak to you through it!
For those of you who will be able to come, know that I am praying for you, but greater than that, Jesus Himself is praying for you as well. Come and may the Lord really minister to you through worship and the Word tonight.

For those of you who are unable to come, would you stop right now and pray for this evening's service. Pray for all of those who will be coming; that the Lord would really encourage, challenge, exhort, etc. the saints tonight!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T23:10:00.001+02:00

Today is Fathers Day in America. It is not a holiday that is celebrated here today in Deutschland. In fact Fathers Day is not really a holiday here at all. Such a bummer!
A few weeks ago I was super blessed to be able to spend time with my dad here in Germany. It was definitely a bummer that it was in the hospital or at all the doctor offices, but I was glad that I got to spend the time with him.
Now that he is back in CA and still sick in the hospital, I wish I could be there with him again instead of just talking on the phone, which I am not really good at.
Anyways, I am super blessed to have my dad as my dad. Happy Fathers Day dad! I love you very much and can't wait to see you again!

Here is a pic of my dad and I at a Dodger game when my family visited California last year!

Don't Waste Your Life

2011-06-18T22:25:00.002+02:00

Lacrae is definitely one of the best out right now - representing Jesus Christ! Check this out! He has got many more! Check him out!

This Morning, My Dad, and Tomorrow

2011-06-18T21:35:00.003+02:00

THIS MORNING
This morning I had the opportunity to spend some one on one time with my daughter Aliyah. Since Katie had the special opportunity to do an over night adventure with her classmates in the kindergarten, I decided that I would treat Aliyah to a breakfast date with daddy. So what we decided to do this morning was to take a bike ride to a local bakery, eat some croissant filled with chocolate, have some hot chocolate, some juice, get some gum (breakfast of champions) and then head out on our little bike ride. We took about a 30-40 minute bike ride throughout our village and onto a bike path. It was great! It was only the two of us and we were able to race one another, laugh together, and simply enjoy one another. I really count it as a special time that I will never forget. I look forward to more dates with Aliyah!

MY DAD
I recently got off the phone with my dad to get an update of what is going on. One thing that I am not sure if I shared or not is that he has got a blood disorder that is called Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID). He has had it for almost 5 years now and so this is definitely a reason why he is continuing to struggle with his health. He basically does not have an immune system to help him fight again sicknesses. So what they did yesterday is treat his CVID and see if this will help build up his system so that he can fight against this sickness. He had to sit there for 4 hours as they slowly inject this medicine into him. He said that he doesn't really feel any different from it and that he definitely doesn't want to do that again. He is waiting to find out what is the latest update. He said that he isn't getting worse, but he also isn't getting better and so it is definitely a hard time for him. Please do continue to pray for him in this time. Thank you

TOMORROW
Tomorrow was supposed to be our church baptism, but due to bad weather that is in the forecast, we have postponed it until July 3rd. Because of this we will be having our normal morning and evening bible studies. Pastor Edmund will be teaching in the morning and he has asked me to be teach the evening service since he had already planned to be in Düsseldorf for Fathers Day. It is not a holiday here in Deutschland, but not only is Edmund Jr and his family there in D-dorf, but also his daughter Janell and her husband James are coming for 3 weeks and they arrive tomorrow. What a great Father's Day gift!
I am really excited for what the Lord has laid on my heart to share. It is honestly something that I have fought through in prayer, studying, and so much more. I honestly hate topical studies, but I know that the Lord is faithful. I am just praying that I will be faithful to declare what HE desires to say, nothing more... nothing less.

Why Jesus?

2011-06-18T13:21:00.003+02:00

This video is from one of my best friends who is now the pastor at Calvary Chapel Northwest in Georgia. Be blessed and share it with others!

Baptism Postponed

2011-06-17T15:48:00.002+02:00

Hello everyone from CC Herborn. I am using every way possible to communicate that our baptism has been postponed until July 3rd due to the bad weather coming this weekend. We are really bummed about this, but we have to trust the Lord with the weather. Please do get this information out to others as well so that people are informed.

We WILL be having both a MORNING and EVENING service this coming Sunday. So come and be blessed as we continue to look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith!

Hangin with Garrett

2011-06-17T09:58:00.005+02:00

Last night we were super blessed to have Garrett Esquivel over for dinner. Garrett has joined us here at CC Herborn from CC LaHabra for the next two months. He has just graduated high school and has also graduated from the School of Worship. This past Wednesday night was his first opportunity to help out in the worship and I can honestly say that we are super stoked to have him join us for these next two months. God has really gifted this young man and I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do in and through him in his stay here.
We took the opportunity to have him over for a BBQ last night and to get to know who he is and for him to get to know us as a family. The kids totally loved him. Before the night was over, all of the kids were telling him a whole bunch of crazy stories and he was playing hide-and-seek with them. What a blessing! The kids were bummed when he had to leave.

So when the kids were meeting Garrett, he had some surprises for them! His mother and grandmother put together some gift bags for the kids that had some different treats inside! The kids were totally stoked! After eating dinner the kids were able to enjoy one of their treats that were in their bags. Ring Pops! Here is a picture of the kids showing their tongues off from what the ring pops had done to them! Noah was absolutely hilarious! Not only was his tongue completely blue, but also his teeth, lips, and some of his face!

Later in the evening I took Garrett for a little trip to go tour downtown Herborn and also the castle in Dillenburg, a neighboring city. I love going to Herborn when it is all shut down and completely empty.
While were were at the castle in Dillenburg, looking over all of the city, I shared with him the short story of how the Lord called us here to Germany. It was there in the city of Dillenburg that the Lord began to speak to my heart in August of 2006 to move to Germany.
We then spent some time in prayer, praying over the city, praying for the lost, praying for salvation, praying for a work of the Holy Spirit here in Deutschland and throughout Europe!

We are super stoked to have Garrett join us!

This Past Weekend & Update

2011-06-15T10:46:00.006+02:00

This past weekend after the evangelism class, my family and I headed up to Münster, Germany. It is about an hour and a half north or us. Around 9 months ago some friends of our started a church there in the city of Münster, seeking to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people in this city. Chris, the pastor of the church, asked me to teach for him on this particular Sunday while him and his family are visiting his family in Florida. So we drove up and joined the Ermert family and spent the weekend in there. What a blessed opportunity it was to spend the weekend with the Ermerts and to serve alongside them. The Ermerts are also from CC Herborn and serve here in the church. Antonia's (Emert) sister and brother-in-law are the ones that started the church in Münster.

This past Sunday was not just another Sunday, it was a special Sunday. It was Pfingsten (Pentecost)! What a honor it was to go and encourage these believers there in Münster in regards to the Holy Spirit and how He wants to work in our lives today! We look into the book of Joel and the book of Acts and focused on two major points. 1) That God said He would pour out His Spirit upon ALL flesh and 2) the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I look forward to hear of the good things that God is going to do there in this city and how the Lord is going to use this new church plant to affect this city with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

UPDATE WITH MY DAD
Last night I had the opportunity to talk with my dad. In fact, I have been talking with him almost everyday since they have been back in California. He is still in the hospital and really having a rough time. He is now in isolation because his white blood cell count is really low. He is in a lot of pain and really is discouraged right now. I am very thankful that family and friends have been going by the hospital to go and visit him. I really wish I could, but I will have to trust the Lord in all of this.
I know that God is working and I am praying that my dad, whom I love so much, will really cry out to the Lord through all of this.
Please do continue to pray for my dad, as well as for my mom and my sisters through this time. Pray for health, healing, and restoration.
Thank you so much for your prayers!

Update with my dad

2011-06-10T16:58:00.001+02:00

Rebecca just got off the phone with my mom and we just received a little update with my dad. He is doing a lot better and hopefully will be able to go home soon! That is definitely good to hear.

Please do continue to pray for him and his health! Thank you.

Crash Course Evangelism

2011-06-10T16:19:00.006+02:00

Tonight we are going to be starting our two day Crash Course Evangelism with Manuel Brambilia. Manuel is a part of "The Way of the Master" ministry and is currently living in Nice, France. We met Manuel at the Pastors Conference at the beginning of the year where he made his ministry available to all of the churches there. Since then we have been in contact with him setting up this two day crash course.

EVANGELISM
It is my prayer that many people will come to this training course and be encouraged in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that many people in our church are really interested in the subject and yet many of them are afraid to publicly proclaim their faith in Jesus. I have talked with many of the people in our church over these past three years about this topic and have really challenged and encouraged them to step out. Many of us have stepped out together, which is always exciting to see what the Lord does.

May this course really begin to stir and re-stir in each of our hearts a compassion for the lost and the empowering to go and proclaim the Gospel in our daily lives!

You Follow Me

2011-06-09T13:38:00.004+02:00

Here is a great video from Pastor James Macdonald about "Keeping your eye on the ball." This is just more confirmation of what the Lord has already been speaking into our lives.
Watch the video and be encouraged!

Keep Your Eye on the Ball from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

This is so true. Too often we are seeking to compare ourselves to others, with how they are living their lives, with how they are doing their ministry, and so much more. I totally agree with these statements. We need to start getting our eyes off of one another and off of other ministries and on to Jesus and simply follow Him! It is not bad to learn from one another or to see what others are doing, but if it brings you and I to a place of getting our eyes off of following the Lord, then there is a problem.

Let's Follow Him!

My Dad

2011-06-08T10:34:00.003+02:00

Hello Everyone
I have a personal prayer request for my dad. As some of you may know, my parents were out here for a two week visit. During their visit, my dad spent three days in the hospital with Pneumonia. He actually had to sign himself out of the hospital so that he can fly back home to California.

He is back in the hospital there in California and is still really sick and in pain. There is a lot going on right now with his health. I write to you and ask you to please be praying for him (Cliff), my mom, and my family during this time.

We really covet your prayers!

In Pursuit of God

2011-06-07T14:42:00.005+02:00

These past few months I have been reading through book written by A.W. Tozer. I have been extremely challenged by each of them. One of the things that really interested me was the fact that many consider him as a prophet in his days. These past years I have been reading through the major and minor prophets. I am currently teaching through the minor prophets and I was just radically challenged with the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was also considered a prophet in his days. And so I picked up this biography on the life of A.W. Tozer that I have had on my bookshelves for many years. This is not a detailed biography, but it does give you a good overview of his life. I can honestly say that I was once again challenged and blessed in reading about his life. His passion and his pursuit of seeking after the Lord was truly relentless. He was truly a man of God!

And yet there was one chapter that I am very thankful that the author put into this book. It had to do with his family life. Now I am not talking about his family life of when he was a child, but rather of when he was the husband and the father of his children. I am thankful for this chapter because I was honestly wondering how Tozer did all that he did with a family. To put it briefly, this was an area that I can see that Tozer fell short in. Now I do not know all the details of his family life, but with that which is recorded in this biography, I learn and see that he did fall short in this area.

I still do respect the man, and yet I see how important it is to have a balanced life in pursuing the Lord and being that minister to your family as well. I do not confess that I have this down, but it is something that I am constantly working on, to have all of the areas of my life fully pleasing to the Lord.

Bottom line, I would encourage you to read this book. Be challenged by it. Learn from his life.

4 Tests of Faith

2011-06-07T14:33:00.005+02:00

Are you in a situation and you are really seeking what it is that the Lord wants to do in your life? What is His will? Here are some great questions that I wrote down in my bible years ago and they have really helped me throughout the years. I thought I would share them with you!

FOUR TESTS OF FAITH

Am I doing this for the glory of God, or just to please myself?
Am I rushing ahead, or am I willing to wait?
Can I defend what I am doing from the Word of God?
As I contemplate this move, do I have joy and peace within?

I would love to hear your thoughts on these. Or what is it that helps you in making these decisions in your life?

Dominic Balli Video!

2011-06-06T12:37:00.002+02:00

Super stoked with my buddy Dominic Balli! His new CD will be coming out soon! Check out this video to his song "American Dream" featuring Sonny from P.O.D.

What a Conference!

2011-05-21T09:33:00.004+02:00

WOW! I have been to many conferences in my life and I would have to say that this was definitely one of the best ones that I have ever been to. The Lord completely blessed us beyond our expectations. A verse that comes to my mind is from Ephesians 3:20-21, which says,

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

We came to this conference expecting the Lord to speak to us through His Word. We know that the word of God is living and active and so we came with this expectation. Well, I can say that He definitely did speak to us. In fact, He did even more than that. One example that I want to share with you took place during a session where we were waiting on the Lord. Rebecca and I came into the session and I was personally praying that God would really encourage us and speak to us in a prophetic way. At the end of this session I can honestly say that the Lord did just that, but not in the way I was thinking or wanting. He did so much more! You see, I came with one expectation in my mind, but HE knew exactly what we REALLY needed. We truly serve such an amazing God! He knows what is best!

The theme of the conference was "The Spirit of God at Work Today." The guest speakers for the conference were David Guzik, Bob Botsford, Ed Rae, Lance Ralston, Phil Metzger, and Nick Long. The Lord truly used each of these men to speak into so many lives. PRAISE GOD FOR ALL THAT HE DID! Now it is time to really step out and apply all that the Lord spoke to us!

WOMEN'S CONFERENCE

Today at CC Herborn we are having our Women's Conference! Bianca Juarez is the guest speaker and so I am looking forward to hear of what the Lord is going to do in the lives of the women today! Lord, speak to your women today! Speak so clearly to Rebecca. In Jesus name, Amen!

2 MORE DAYS
The countdown has been going on in our family for Papa Cliff and Grandma Shoshi to come to Germany. It is now just two days away and the kids are so excited!
Rebecca is gone at the conference. I have got the 3 kids. I got up early this morning to get some shopping done. Need to clean up the house, do the laundry, mow the lawn, feed and take care of the kids, etc. Needless to say - JESUS HELP! JESUS BE GLORIFIED!

Mitarbeiterkonferenz Starts today

2011-05-18T11:13:00.003+02:00

After a weekend of pouring out the love of Jesus to His people, we are stoked to have the opportunity to go to CC Siegen for this year's Mitarbeiterkonferenz (Servants Conference) and be refreshed in the Word of God. This is an annual conference that CC Siegen hosts. A team of pastors comes from the states to come to minister and encourage God's workers here in Europe. Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara is the main church that run's this conference along with other servants as well.

This will be our third year going to the conference and as I already mentioned, we are really excited about it! Please do pray that the Lord speaks directly into our lives and strengthens us in our faith!

Noah's morning Devotion

2011-05-18T11:07:00.001+02:00

I just wanted to share with you all a little pic of Noah doing his morning devotion with his Bible.

It is never too early to start!

Testimony from this past weekend!

2011-05-16T19:41:00.003+02:00

Katie's First Haircut!

2011-05-11T23:06:00.000+02:00