Johnstein!

I find myself really bothered by the sometimes unhealthy focus on gifts at Christmas time...but Christmas IS about a gift. It is the celebration of the most necessary gift we've ever received.  The gospel accounts tell of us of a few of ways that people respond to this gift of salvation through Christ. In Matthew, we see the interaction of three different responses in the story of the wise men and King Herod. The wise men knew something big was up. And they wanted to be a part of it. So, they went to king Herod to get some clarification...and it's here that we see some interesting reactions. First...let's look at the reaction of "people’s chief priests and teachers of the law". After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,  during the time of King Herod, Magi [ a ]  from the east came to Jerusalem   2  and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star  when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3  When King H...

Some of my fondest memories at Christmas seem to all stem from my Grandma Margaret (my dad's mom)...she was fiercely proud of her Norwegian heritage and she would speak of it often; it was during Christmas time that I most clearly remember how she passed on the things that were truly important to her. One tradition that my mom has been able to keep alive is the tradition of making potato Lefse. My mom has over time taught all of us (the kids) how to make it and even the grandkids have taken up the tradition.  Growing up, the only time we made it was on Christmas Eve. I remember (especially as I got older) my mom and Grandma in the kitchen making it, usually after our Christmas Eve service. I hated this. Mainly because it delayed opening our ONE Christmas Eve present. Also, I was usually starving at this point. Usually I ignored the Lefse because we would also have meatballs. I like meatballs. Our Christmases in Vienna have been much different than our normal tradition...main...

(warning...this is a pretty long and wordy post...it's kinda disjointed...but that's kinda how yesterday went...so please bear with me) Yesterday was quite a day...a long, 17 hour day, full of reminders of God's Grace and how He has sustained, provided for, and used us during our time in Vienna. So much happened that I feel I have to document it all in a blog post...it really was an overwhelming day. We've been very busy this week, so I was exhausted when I woke up. To be quite honest I was a bit discouraged as well. The visa office has been delaying their approval on Rebecca and the kids' visas...which really isn't a big deal, except for the fact that it has delayed payment on the kinderbeihilfe  that we receive from the Austrian government...this has been a huge blessing in our time here as it has supplemented our salary in a way that has allowed us to remain here. Not having it has made things very tight financially...we've getting by on cash advances ...

Big Changes! We want to let you know about some big changes. Rebecca and I,  through a couple months of intensive prayer, counsel, and conversation, have determined that our next step in ministry is to move to Kosovo and work to further the message of Jesus Christ through a baseball camp ministry platform!. So, what does all this mean? First, the basics; We will be leaving ICSV in July of 2014 and going on a year furlough/home service during which; We will spend 2014/15 support raising, training, resting, and preparing for this new stage in ministry. We are in the process of switching sending organizations – Please keep this process in your prayers…still not a confirmed thing. We intend to move to Kosovo in the late summer/fall of 2015. Financial Needs; Continued support throughout the process. Given the increased need for support, we will need to travel throughout the US to meet with new ministry partners. We will also need to attend a vari...

As some of you may remember,  back in August we had the opportunity to go to Kosovo to look into the possibility of establishing a baseball camp ministry. Since that time, much has happened. God has been opening doors and making connections in some amazing ways. In the last month we have developed partnerships and relationships with a number of baseball ministry organizations and we have already begun to collect gear to take with us in June. We have started a blog specifically for the Kosovo Baseball Initiative , as we are calling it. Please visit the site and sign up to receive notification of any updates. We plan on updating it regularly as developments occur. Rebecca, Justin, and I will be visiting Kosovo in April to work on some final details and to visit some other ministry sites. Keep checking in...we definitely would love to have your prayers for this new opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Kosovo.