You may wonder, even after hearing about the story of how a life is being lived, what living in that story is really like.  If there is one thing we as people are always curious about it is the day-to-day habits of those who occupy a wholly other place than ourselves. 

Our habits might not seem so strange compared to yours when you think about them.  We still have to eat, drive, sleep, and pay our bills like anyone else you might know.

Both of us grew up in the states and moved to Germany in 1993.  Those intervening years have served to let us feel at home in either place.  Like your two favorite pairs of shoes, they fit great, but they do fit differently. 

The situation is a bit different for the kids, Zack lived a few years in the states as a child and then came back in 2006 to university, so he is accustomed to both but each place has had impact at different stages of his life.  Spencer and Gabi have been raised completely in Europe (in Spencer’s case, born in a German hospital) but have traveled back every summer, and sometimes an extra trip, making their impression of the states decidedly on the “sunny, warm, and always time for pool” side.

Gabi tried out the pool in February, a few years ago … that lasted about 2 seconds.

Spencer and Gabi are currently attending the International School in Bonn, Germany where we live and base the ministry.  Bonn has served as a perfect location for us due to the great opportunity the International School represent as a way for the kids to get a truly world class education (Zack graduated from there), as well as from it’s fairly central location in Western Europe.  This central location allows for a good deal of travel, which we do quite often.

Our normal routine revolves around Spencer and Gabi going to school five days a week, leaving the house around 7:30am and returning at 4:00pm (or 16:00 if you use standard time, like we do).  This isn’t a bad schedule but it does mean that they are not often home in daylight during the winter months. Germany sits at a slightly higher parallel than the continental United States, so while the harsher weather is mitigated by the warming effect of the North Atlantic Current that surrounds Europe with “warmer” water, sunlight is somewhat less in winter.  The sun usually rises somewhere around 8:00am and starts setting around 3:30 or 4:00pm.  The school year is 180 days per year but only an 8-week summer break.

We live in a house just outside of the Bonn city limits in a small, quiet village called Villiprott.  When we moved up to Bonn from Heidelberg we wanted a house that was as close to the forest as possible, which was something the real estate agents were pretty sure was an impossible find … Our house backs up to a large tranquil forest filled with paths for walking, running, horseback riding.

Remember, Impossible is just an opinion.

As far as the ministry goes we have pastored RHEMA Bible Church in Bonn since we pioneered the Church in 1999.  The church started with just a few brave volunteers. But  with time, persistence, nuturing and a constant influx of the Holy Spirit in our decision making it has grown to a much larger group of fantastic volunteers and dedicated staff. 

We can only do what we do because of the great team involved in the entire endeavor, the strength of that team has been profoundly evident in the last few years as the demand for us to be traveling abroad has meant necessary absence from local duties at times.  The church has flourished in this due to the excellent abilities of those entrusted with it’s care.

Our daily responsibilities include not only the pastoral duties of the local church but the planning, development, and directing of RHEMA Europe and RHEMA Germany.  These two areas involve the Bible Training Centers and Alumni throughout Germany and Greater Europe.  Further sustainability for these different areas is achieved by our hosting of leadership training and development workshops for pastors.

Life is busy, but it is good.  We love our family, our work, and people God has connected us to and entrusted us with.  There is no greater cause for us than fulfilling the plan of God for our lives, and serving in whatever capacity that demands. 

There is still a lot left to do, check out our future for a glimpse of where our lives are going.

We hope you’ll join us there.