Archive for December, 2009
Posted on December 29, 2009 - by Larry - 0 Comments
photo gallery
We just added an element to my blog that I wanted to let you know about.
I often meet people who are living here in Europe that are excellent photographers.
I want to highlight some of these photographers as they work here. They take some great shots and you can get such a feel for Europe through their photography.
Just go up to the Gallery Section at the top of my blog and click on Kaylin Bower’s photos. By the way I like it best when I view the photos through “piclens”.
Kaylin currently lives in Poland. You can see more of her photos on her blog.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Posted on December 25, 2009 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Merry Christmas
It has been a wild December. I do not remember ever travelling this much during a December.
I made it back to Germany this week and have been playing catch up since. I feel very fortunate making it back without any airport delays or cancellations. I am thankful for that. It has been madness for people who had to travel this week. It does feel good to be home though.
I wanted to write a quick note today to wish you a Merry Christmas. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you find the posts helpful.
Merry Christmas.
Posted on December 16, 2009 - by Larry - 2 Comments
Church Planting in Germany
As you may know we live in Germany. We have grown to love this place. Our life here is different than the life we had in Spain. My wife teaches in a high school. I travel a lot it seems with my work but I am able to have have some incredible opportunities to pour into the life of other workers. I also have the privilege of helping churches in the states in connecting with these people.
A couple of weeks ago I was able to go teach on the book of Acts at the Bible Seminary of Bonn. I always enjoy my time there. The students have such a great passion for the Lord and to serve Him.
This week I want to introduce you to a friend of mine here in Germany. Mark Wagner National training strategist for the IMB in Germany Austria and Switzerland. I have known Mark for almost 8 years now. We have worked together at various levels. Mark would be very interested in connecting with some churches that would commit to a partnership here in Germany. You can contact him at wmwagner125@aol.com.
I hope you will take 3 minutes to look at this video that I put together of my time at the seminary. (I need to give a disclaimer that I am not the best videographer and editor but I am giving it a shot.)
You will also meet on this short video Andy Wiebke who works at the seminary. I hope if you are a pastor reading this blog or watching this video that you would consider contacting me about this idea. He would love to see some pastors and church planters that would mentor / coach a student.
If you have an interest in this please email me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org
Posted on December 11, 2009 - by Larry - 1 Comment
Dependence
Today I am writing from Ukraine. This is my first time here. Though it is not extremely far from Southwest Germany it is a very different culture and way of life here.
I arrived yesterday at about 2:30 pm after about a one hour wait in line at passport control. It was already getting dark. Grey clouds. A little snowy. I have only met one person from the Ukraine that speaks English. Even the words on the signs are hard to read. The words are in Cyrillic. I was able to guess at some of the letters since they reminded me of Greek.
I had dinner with some workers who live here and then I was dropped off at the hotel. Again, no one that I tried talking to spoke English.
- I do not speak Russian
- I have never been to the city
- Signs are all in Ukrainian and I do not recognize the letters.
- Not many English speakers
- Dark when I arrived
- In a hotel not knowing anyone
What do you do?
Are there some “first things” you do when you arrive to a new place?
It hit me this morning again. I hate that I must be reminded of this so much.
Being here reminded me of the total dependence upon the Lord that we must have daily on the field.
More on this city and some things I am learning later but this post is about something that should be an automatic for me. We need to be dependent on the Lord. There is something about going to a foreign place and not knowing how to do anything that makes you stick pretty close to the Lord. It does not have to be this way. I need to daily depend on the Lord regardless of where I land. Sure there are some “first things” that I need to do when I arrive in a new place that can help me learn the city and culture but the realization is that I need to depend upon the Lord.
What do you do when you land in a new place?
Posted on December 8, 2009 - by Larry - 1 Comment
London
This past week I was in London doing some prep work for our upcoming Jet Set tour to London and Paris with The Upstream Collective. It was a great trip for several reasons. One reason was that my son Parker and my wife Susan were able to go with me.
Because my wife is a teacher at Black Forest Academy and of course my son a student they do not always get to participate in my ministry. It was great having them along for the weekend. We worked hard and had some fun.
My top five treats in London
- Krispy Kreme Donuts – I only had them twice but they were good.
- Watching my son go crazy on Denmark Street where we visited shop after shop of music stores. He is a guitarist.
- We saw the musical “Wicked”. It was indeed wicked (which use to mean good)
- The lighting of the Christmas tree on Thursday night. Norway gives London a tree each year. It is always great to be in a square with atleast 500,000 people.
- Being able to reconnect with several friends who live in London and spend some time with them.
I also want to list another top five of sorts.
1. Had lunch with a person who is working in London and part of our Skybridge Community . It is so encouraging to see people living out their lives incarnationally in the marketplace here in Europe.
2. Talked with a person who is an artist and is doing a spectacular job connecting with other artists in London and being the salt and light in that community.
3. Visited the wonderful folks at Westminster Chapel where we will be next May for a few of our days there. Ed Stetzer will be preaching there on May 23rd. The Upstream Collective and Acts 29 Western Europe will be hosting a one day conference there called Dwell on May 22nd. More on that later.
4. Spent time with an imb worker is who hoping to find creative partnerships with North American churches to engage the burroughs of London. What is really cool is how this guy is a catalyst for connecting these churches with existing ministries and churches and the collabroration that is going on is great.
5. The continual amazement at how the world really is in London. There are so many opportunities there to share the Gospel with many of the people groups in the world. I love working in Europe. I think it is one of the most strategic places in the world to be involved in missions. I have learned so much since 2001 about ministry here. I have much more to learn. Not to make an huge advertisement but Caleb Crider and I are really pumped about being with Alan Hirsch at the churchplanters.com conference where we will be doing a pre- conference workshop entitled “Back to the Future: Lessons from Europe” and how that can apply to church planting in the states today. If you can come to that please sign up on their site.
Posted on December 2, 2009 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Summer Idea for College Students
As a part of my “Friends’ series I want to introduce you to a ministry I just learned about several months ago. As you may know I had a trip to Turkey this Fall and it was one of the most life changing trips that I have ever been on. It really expanded my known world. It also increased my prayers for the peoples in that region.
We have become friends with a ministry called St. Paul Cultural Center. They do some incredible ministries in that part of the world. They also have a coffee house inside their center that I cannot wait to visit.
One of the things that intrigued me was this summer camp called Olive Grove. If you are a college student or young adult and would like a mission project this summer you should check this out and consider being a counselor.
History of Olive Grove:
Launched originally in 1997 as International Kids’ Camp, Olive Grove is a Christ-centered English-speaking holiday adventure designed for children and youth who are impacted by multi-cultural influences. Each year young people from over a dozen different countries gather for meaningful holiday fun at Olive Grove.
Olive Grove’s purpose is to provide children and youth ages 8-18 with unforgettable opportunities and challenges to grow as individuals, friends, and followers of God.
What happens at Olive Grove:
Creative acting, craft making, kayaking, rock climbing, sailing, swimming, playing popular sports, meaningful study and discussion – these are examples of our activities, all of which are carefully guided and supervised.
Counselors Needed
If you are interested in being a counselor please send them an email at renatabultema@spccturkey.com
There is a cost involved in being a counselor so you would most likely need to raise support for that cost as well as your travel to and from Turkey.
The dates are June 16 – July 3rd with an optional one-week post camp tour starting on the 4th. There is an extra cost for the tour.
