APRIL (to mid May) NEWSLETTER

Random Tip
(in case you fall for a German):
If you want to tell someone that you have a crush
on him or her in German, you have to say, “I stand on you!”

Since we last sent an update, among other things, we tackled another painting project, helped get the new patio up and running for the restaurant, helped with a Youth Easter Retreat weekend, took a time-out to be tourists in Berlin, Mindy spent an incredible 10 days with “family” and friends babysitting her Swiss kids in Switzerland, as well as the usual Big Games, Springmaeuse, and Small Group ministries (whew)!
We also helped to organize a 24/7 Prayer Week that took place in our church, The Prayer Week grew out of a desperate financial situation in G5. The restaurant is now stabilized, but the rest of the church is still struggling from month to month.
We went on an adult ski camp with about 20 others. Kevin was able to lead a devotional on Freedom, and Mindygot a very bad cold!We hosted another Youth Group Theme Party, and this time our theme was “Canada”. We had a lot of fun getting the Germans to answer trivia questions (they actually did pretty good!) and seeing what kinds of things they wore (our buddy John Wayne went all out making his own costume as a hockey player!). Plus, they like chili dogs!
We were incredibly thankful for the use of a friends’ apartment while we took a few days off to just see some of this country we’ve been living in! While in Berlin we were able to learn a lot about the history, visiting museums and concentration camps. We also got to visit Kevin and Lisa Wood, missionaries here from New Zealand who recently moved to Berlin from Kandern!

Prayer Requests:

~ Please pray for health and encouragement during our last weeks here, to finish strong.

Kevin u. Mindy Erickson
Blumenmuehlgasse 6
79400 Kandern
Germany
Phone:
011- 49 - 7626 -977 - 824
E-Mail:
km_erickson@hotmail.com
Web Site:
www.ericksongermany.blogspot.com
Thank you for your prayers and support!
Kevin & Mindy Erickson

March Newsletter

Typically, we let you know what ministries we’ve been involved in over the past month. I’m wondering if you really want to know our schedules? Not that there hasn’t been a lot going on, but in all honesty, if you were thinking of sending me yours, I probably wouldn’t be particularly interested! If I could receive an “update” from you, I wouldn’t want to know what you’re doing, rather how you’re doing. I would want you to tell me who you are, today, at this point in your journey.
I’ve noticed that we as people tend to be so “event” oriented, but I’m convinced that God is more interested in the process.
Having said all that, I find myself asking what is the real purpose of writing monthly Newsletters? First, to say THANK YOU, second to share prayer requests, and third to share some of our lives with you.
1) THANK YOU!! If you have been one of our financial supporters. God has been providing for our needs through you. THANK YOU!! If you have been committed to praying for us, we need it! :) THANK YOU!! for all the ways that you show us love, support and encouragement!

2) Please pray that we make the most of our last few months in Germany. Praise God with us for all that He is teaching and showing us. Pray for continued direction in our lives, personally and professionally.

3) Mindy: I have been struggling to understand my relationship with a Triune God, with the Father specifically. This has been an incredibly eye-opening progression, and I’m finally coming to grips with the importance of the Lord Himself as my first priority. My calling in life has been and is in transformation, as I focus on what it means to be with Him rather than to work for Him.
Kevin: I have been discovering a lot about who I am in Christ, and what that means for my life here on this earth. My calling is being confirmed into full time ministry, and I’m incredibly grateful for all that I have learned here so far.

Random Fact: The Government Office here

is called the “Rat Hause”. We thought it fitting.

2nd Random Fact: One of our good friends here

used to be a pop star in Germany!

Check out www.timo-langner.de

Mid Jan. - February Newsletter

Us at the Carnival Parade in Basel. As you can see, Kevin was thrilled to get out of bed at 2am!

We spent Jan 19-21st on a “Time Out” weekend with 88 others from our church. This was a great chance for us to connect and spend time as a church community. We were able to express appreciation for each other, and just worship and play together. A special bonus was learning many ridiculous German 80’s Hits via karaoke.
The next week, I (Mindy) had the chance to meet with Tammy Peters to start planning a Creative Worship Service. The idea is the same as what we did in the beginning of December, but this time it’s replacing one of our normal Thursday night services. My specific tasks beyond organizing the event itself have been to choose the Scripture readings, and lead a team of girls in a choreographed dance! (This event was held March 1st and went over really well!)On February 3rd I hosted a “Girl’s Night” /Sleepover to connect with the girls/women in the church and also to introduce the idea of starting some women’s ministries, which until this point have been non-existent in FEG Rebland. A small team is just now forming to start planning for these events.
There were many birthday parties to plan in February! Between the friends from all three Small Groups, guys in the Youth Group and Kevin himself, we still have lots of left over cake in our freezer! I also got to plan a farewell party for one of my closest friends here, Maggie on February 17th. We enjoyed a live DJ, and Kevin & I laughed a lot, due to the odd style of music preferences and crazy dancing maneuvers!
The very next day we headed off with 110 others for our annual Youth Group Ski Trip in St. Gallen, Switzerland which ran Feb. 18-24th. Other than one bad wipe-out where Kevin permanently maimed Maggie, it went really well! There was a good mix of meeting new kids, fun, and depth, as well as some major disappointments and struggles. The latter was a real learning curve for us in terms of the way the church is being run. Two days after returning, Maggie left us forever to do missions herself. We will be long gone by the time she returns in twelve months, so I’m feeling a little ripped off at having to start the good-byes already!

Special Requests:

~ Our financial situation is really struggling and we are in need of support.
~ Pray that Mindy would be encouraged in her work here, as we have no “official” position; it is easy to get discouraged in her role.
~ Pray that Kevin would continue to go deeper in his friendships.

Quote of the Month:
(spoken in mid conversation)
“Beep. Go to Commercials.”
- Alex Peters (6 yrs old)

Thank you for your prayers and support!
Kevin & Mindy Erickson

December (-mid Jan.) Newsletter

Kevin’s parents came and spent three weeks here for the holidays. We were able to spend part of that time traveling around with them, and it was excellent just to be with some family for Christmas.
G5 hosted a Danny Plett Christmas concert with 800 guests that we helped with. We had a Christmas Eve Service with a great turn out, and then we helped set up for the New Years party hosted by our restaurant, Sichtwerk. 270 people from the community were lucky enough to get tickets, 3x that number were turned away.
On December 8th, Mindy organized our first ever “Creative worship night”. Kevin played guitar and it was great to get a team together and have so many people helping out.On December 21st our church held a “Visions Evening” where we got to see their direction for the coming year and structure for the “players” involved. This has been much needed and is slowly but surely aiding to cut back on the chaos.
For New Years we had a 4 day retreat with the youth and youth leaders to figure out this upcoming year. The Youth Group is more or less starting from scratch, so that time spent together was invaluable, connecting with each other and starting a foundation. We just hosted our first ever Youth Group theme party in our home on Jan 13th: “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Kevin’s Small Group has grown too large and so has just split into two. Despite the challenge with the language barrier, he is now organizing the discussions. Mindy’s two Small Groups are both doing well. One is studying through 1 Corinthians and the other is reading through the book “Captivating”.
Mindy’s involvements in the weekly “Springmaeuse” and monthly “Big Games” are stepping up a notch as people who were previously leading are stepping down or moving away.
Kevin is still helping weekly with the maintenance side of things at our Restaurant.

Special prayer Requests:
• That the Lord would continue to provide for us financially.
• That we could build meaningful relationships with those that we’re in contact with.

Thank you for your prayers and support!
Kevin & Mindy Erickson

November Newsletter

Kevin's High-Lights/Low Lights
I have recently become involved with music ministry here in G5. I am playing guitar with one of the bands, normally once a week, which is a major highlight. The only downside is that I have not played guitar in front of people much, and now I am playing in front of 800 to 1000 people in another language, making it difficult to follow. Needless to say, it can be a little nerve racking.
A huge highlight is that I am in a small group, and for a weekend get away we went to the Swiss Alps and stayed in a Chalet there, which was incredible!
I am still helping out once or twice a week helping at the restaurant/hotel with the continued building projects. I also have weekly shifts working in the Restaurant itself. These are both a combination of highs & lows!

Mindy's High-Lights/Low-Lights
Once a week, I run the technical stuff for a ministry called “SpringMaeuse”. This is a highlight for me, because I get to play with and enjoy watching 0-4 year olds dance & sing with their “primary care givers” from the safe distance of not having to worry about changing diapers! Plus I have a new little friend named Emily Woods who is just incredibly adorable.

Saturday and Sunday mornings, I have been responsible for cleaning the Restaurant. This would be fine, but so far, 5 out of the 7 times I have come to clean, I have been locked out. This has meant either waiting & waiting only to go back home, thus wasting the time & gas money, or waiting about a half hour before I could get started. Not being a morning person, and being asked to be somewhere at 6:00a.m. only to find the place stranded – I don’t need to tell you why this has been a lowlight! (I am now demanding to have my own key!)

My main ministry has been leading a small group, and much of my time has been spent building friendships one-on-one with the girls in that small group. This has been a major highlight in general. The major downside is that with this particular mix of girls, getting them to all come to our weekly meetings seems impossible! So that has been and is really discouraging.

Another huge highlight has been the opportunities to spend time with my beloved Swiss family and friends. I can’t describe what a gift from God this has been to me!

Special prayer Requests

• That the Lord would continue to provide for us financially.

• That continued ministry opportunities would be available to us where the language barrier wouldn’t be a hindrance.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Kevin & Mindy Erickson

October Newsletter

October Newsletter


Sept 15th we arrived safely in Germany and stayed with a couple from the church in Binzen for the first two weeks. John-David and Simone Barth were incredibly welcoming and generous as we waited for living arrangements to be ready.

Sept. 27th we moved into a place of our own in a town called Kandern, a fifteen minute drive from the church in Eimeldingen. The solution for this “commute” has been found in a little car we got from the church. It displays decals which read, “Dixie” and she has been named accordingly.
(Kandern is also the home of Black Forest Academy – an International School for missionary kids.)

What is G5?
The church has just moved from where it used to take place (on a farm) to a brand new building in a town called Eimeldingen and is actually set up as a kind of community centre.
It has been named “G-5” which represents the 5 central focuses of the center. These are Gemeinde (Church), Gastronomie (enjoying great food together has always been a central aspect of the community, and the new building includes a restaurant/bar seating 350, and has plans for a Youth Café), Gastfreundschaft (Hospitality – it has a small hotel providing rooms for people needing temporary lodging or attending events, as well as 6 apartments for staff and families), Gemeinschaft (Fellowship – it includes a gym and sports facilities, with many other plans making it a place to connect.), and lastly Gewerbe (Commerce – it includes book and sports shops).
The church overall has been home to around 700 people, 60% of those being Christ-followers. On Oct. 21st and 22nd we celebrated the Grand Opening, totaling around 3,000 guests.

For More Pictures of the Restaurant “Sichtwerk” in G5 and the BlackForest, check out:
www.takkiwrites.blogspot.com

Kevin's Column
The first 4 weeks I spent working at the Restaurant and Hotel trying to help get it ready for the grand opening. The timing of our arrival was an answer to prayer for those in charge, as they were in need of a welder. I built shelves in the bar, which saved them around 7 000 Euros ($10,000). I also did many other things to help with the construction. It was a great way for me to get involved right away and meet a lot of people, with whom I have become friends.

Mindy "The Artist" Erickson
I also spent the first four weeks helping out with the restaurant and hotel, meeting a lot of people through the work there. It mostly consisted of painting – from a bright green on the bathroom walls to a clear lacquer on the newly arrived tables and furniture. Some of my clothes have become quite multicolored in the process!
I have also gotten involved in several small groups, and am beginning to connect with a lot of women through that. I lead my first one last week, and was blessed with a very patient group through my very imperfect German!

Other Stuff:
~ We are both helping out with the “Atmosphere” aspect of a monthly event called “Big Games” - this is a program for kid’s ages 9-12 made available for the surrounding community.
~ We will also be helping to organize this year’s annual ski trip – a primary Youth Outreach event.
~ With all the building projects going on, individual attention has not been given to many of the key players – who are getting worn out. We are hoping to meet some of the “pastoral care” needs with some of the young leaders in the church.
~ We are relieved to be finally starting some structured German Classes, graciously being taught by the pastor’s wife here.

Phil and Tammy Peters have been our saving grace as we have plunged into this new life. They are career missionaries here and Phil is acting as our mentor this year. Here they are with their three children Amanda, Michael, Alex.

Special prayer Requests

• That we would apply ourselves to study German.

• That our eyes would be open to see God’s vision for this community.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Kevin & Mindy Erickson

Our First Newsletter

We are excited to inform you that this coming September we are participating in our school's overseas internship program called OnSite, which we applied and prepared for this past year. This program allows us to complete the required internship component of our degrees, while ministering cross-culturally overseas! Our onSite location will be in the city of Binzen in the southwest part of Germany.

This summer we have been blessed with great jobs - Mindy is landscaping for the City of Calgary, and Kevin is welding for a contracting company. This is a great opportunity for us to work hard and save money for school. We will be leaving for Germany mid-September 2006, staying for approximately ten months, and are planning to return July 2007.

We will be ministering with Phil and Tammy Peters who pastor an Evangelical Free Church in Binzen, which is only about six years old but has been growing rapidly. This is a German speaking church, so we will be spending our first months focusing primarily on language study. Our areas of ministry will have the potential to include a youth cafe, college & career groups, music ministry, and sports, English and ski/snowboard camps.

Prayer:
- For a smooth transition to a different culture and language
- For our fundraising to continue going well

If you would like to recieve our monthly newsletter, or to make a donation, simply email km_erickson@hotmail.com with either the words "Newsletter" or "Donation" typed in the subject line, and we would be happy to respond to you. Or for annonymous donations, contact Alliance University College at 403-410-2000 or log on at auc-nuc.ca