Bridges Don 1983 Germany

8/10/2019 Bridges Don 1983 Germany

1/6


2/6

Talking abou t the way that

God loves

to

give, VBS is a

good

case in point . We started

with 3 people. By the time VBS came, we had

9-10 people to work with th e

children.

As a

result of program,

some

of

the

children

are

still coming to Sunday

school

and

the

youth

program

At

th e

evaluation for th e VBS, it

was de

cided

that next year the teachers would write

their

own

m ateria ls . T here w ere several

reasons fo r

this,

but

I

think

the

main

one

is

tha t

mos t of th e kids with which w e work

have no real

concept

of God,

Jesus, or what

being

a

Christian

is really all about. Please

be

praying for

us here

as it will

take

a lo t of work

to

get th is

done

SUMMER CAMP

In July, we traveled to Molveno, Italy

for

summer camp.

It was well

attended (about

70

people),

and

the subjects

were

great. Harold

Fowler taught a class on Encounter ing

Culture.

Raymond Bodley

taught

the

book

of

Hebrews. Dale

Mallory

led

a

class

on

Christian

Doctrine.

Fred

Miller taught

the

book of 2nd Corinthians. Guy Mayfleld

had

a

class on res tora tion principles. Bob Warner

taught

about

Jesus and Paul's teaching

methodsr-AII in afh-it--was a very

good t ime

with a lo t of

valuable information gleaned.

This year, I traveled in a caravan

to

camp

with the Gary

Goble

family and the Tim

Bushacker

family.

We

went through

th e

Bavarian Alps on the way down. Quite

often

I

got left behind when we

were

cross ing the

mountains ~

having

a diesel engine

does

t end

to slow one

down

on mounta ins It was

the

first t ime

th at t he Bushacker s

were

able

to go to

camp,

and

they

really did

enjoy

it

I

was able

to

take

along my

dog,

Kuia, to

camp this year.

She was

labeled with

a

new

name

a t camp

~ Killer Dog It

seems

that

she

protected

my

camp

site very well. Yet,

she

is

somewhat of a missionary herself. In Ger

many, many people ask

me

what

happened

to

her (she

has

only

3 legs).

The same thing

happens in Italy. Yet, I le t the Italian Mis

s iona ri es handle th e

question

if they are

around.

She

is quite a

conversation starter.

DEPARTURES

This

past summer

has

been a

hard

one for

us

here

a t

L an dstuh l. W e ha ve seen

in

the

space

of

just

a

few short

months

si x families

leave.

Pat

and ane t McAllis ter moved to

southern Italy. They were here

about

5

years

and ve^ ctive in the church life Janet

taught in the Sunday schoo l and

helped

in

VBS.

Pat

helped

with

the construction of th e

new auditorium. They will

be

greatly missed.

Lynn and

Nancy Mauler l ef t in

June

fo r Il

linois.

They

were

active

here for about 3

years. They will also

be

greatly

missed

as

they worked in the

Sunday school, and

Lynn

headed up

our men 's

meetings.

Ron and Patsy Bouslay lef t in July to go

to

Mississippi.

Ron got out

of

the Air

Force

and

will

be

looking for work in the s ta tes. I ask

that you pray for him and the family. They

were a great

blessing

to

us

here.

Working

in

the

Sunday

school,

they

also

helped

in

the

construction

of the audito rium (that r oom

might stiil no t be

done

if Ron had not

been

back there working ). Ron was ou r treasurer

fo r 2 years.

Tim

and Peggy Bushacker

left

here in

August while I was in the s ta tes) t o a ttend

school

in

San Antonio. One

of

the

thrilling

parts of the

ministry

here is to see

people

growing

in

th e

Lord. Tim

and

Peggy were

both baptised here. To watch them grow was

a real blessing. Tim became

head

of our sun-

day school,

and Peggy

was

a

teacher.

Tim

would make

s ome

cal ls

on s ome

of

th e

people in the

barracks, lead

devotions, and

even taught a few Sunday

school

classes.

Pray for them in their new field of

service.

I

would

like to

keep

these

people,

but

for

now God

will

be ab le to

u se

t hem

in

a

new

field of

service

There are more, the

Hensleys have gone

to Florida, and the Links

to Arkansas.

Mary Link gave her life to the

Lord

just

before they

left

fo r the states. She

had been

wrestling

with it fo r such a long

time. She knew that

she

needed to be bap

tised, but

she

was not ready to

give

in to

God.

(She told me that

she

understood

everything

that

I

said about

the

plan of salva

tion, but

she

j us t was not ready Knowing

is

no t

salvation )

The

Links have

become

very

dear to us here.

Pray for

them in their new

f ield

INTERNS

This next

summer

we are planning to have

s umme r in te rns c ome and

work

with u s here

at

Landstuhl.

If

you

o r someone

you know

might be interested in working

as an

intern,

p le ase s end

me

a resume as

quickly

as

possible. Please include t he bas ic i tems like

age, height, marital

status,

parents name.

Also, give information about your education.


3/6

previous

work,

abilities, interests and hob

bies. Iwould like

to have

also a picture of you

(smali

passport

size will do), and a

letter

of

recomendation from your church. I will need

this

Information

{as

the interns

will

be

selected

by the middle of January)

to give

adequate time for the

raising

of

support.

Some of t he dut ie s t ha t will be

required

of

the interns

will be

secre tar ia l, preaching,

teaching, VBS,

camp, calling,

and sharing in

whatever ways

may

open

up. It will be a good

time to see the work that goes on in

Europe

and more specifically Germany. You will

have an oppor tuni ty

to

get

acquainted with

th e var ious miss ionar ies

t ha t

are here

Knowledge

of

German

is

helpful

but not

n e c e s s a r y

Again, please

let me

have

your

resume as

soon

as possible

NEW FAMILIES

A

new

family

that has been coming is

Ron

and

Lisa

Wadowsk i. They have

been a real

blessing

since

they

have

joined

us

here.

I

ask

that you pray for them.

Adjusting to

a new

country may be exc it ing and

frustrating.

Yet,

they

seem

to be doing

real well.

They have

s ta r ted

a

c o n ve r sa t io n al G e r m an c lass

Brad

a n d

Dawn

White

is

a no t he r

n ew fami

ly that have joined us

here. Both

are

proving

to

be

a great addition to th e

church

family

here.

They will

be

starting in

November

a

youth

group for some of the older

kids

here

at the church.

Dawn will

be doing some

of

th e s ec r e t a r i a l w ork w hile D iane is in th e

sta tes

this

winter and spring.

Pray

for them

and

their

work. Working with the youth may

be

a challenging as well as a rewarding

work.

MID-WINTER

RALLY

I am present ly gett ing

ready

for ou r Mid-

Winter Rally

which will

be

In Frankfurt

again

this year.

The

theme of the ral ly is Epheslans

4 - GROWING INTO CHRIST. It will prove to

be an exciting time

as

we are anticipating

a

good turnout.

Say, why don't you

come?

I

will be leading a class on the first six verses

in

Eph.

4.

We are

going

to do

a

lo t

of talking

about presen/ing the unity of the Spirit. A

lo t

of things have been

written

on this subject .

I do

ask that

you will pray for

me dur ing

thi s t ime

as

it is

going

to take a lot of work

to

get

ready

for

this time.

SYMPATHY

We

express

our

deepest

sympathy

to

the

family of Wiley Rood

who

passed

away

the

last of October.

Mr.

Rood and his

wife

Ruby

were a

blessing to

the Church In

Landstuhl.

I

was

privileged

to

visit in t he ir home

while

I

w as back

in

t he S ta te s th is summer . Wiley

was

a

personal

blessing

to me and

I will

miss

him greatly, along with h is family and many,

many friends.

PETITIONS FOR PRAYER NEEDS

1.

Guidance

for

the Church

1- Names of Christian or

Church

of

Christ

2. Growth of the Congregation/Calling military or civilians here in Germany

Program 2. Letters of encouragement

3. Book Store 3. News of God's dealings with

you

4. Bible Correspondence Course 4. Prayers

5. The

Congregat ion here

6.

The

Bus

Ministry

I

would like

to

t ake thi s oppor tuni ty

to

wish you

and

yours

a Very

Merry

Christmas

and

a

Happy

New Year. It is my

prayer

that

God

will

bestow his

bountiful blessings

upon each

of you

In

Christ,

Don

FINANCIAL REPORT

February

-

October, 1983

Balance on Hand

1-21-83

1,252.34

Income 9.575.75

10,828.09

Rent, Food 3,124.12

Transportation

2,045.92

Miscel laneous 4.261.14

9 43 8

Balance on

Hand

10-31-83

1.396.91


4/6

Chris t ian

Mission

Field Address: pon Bridges-

Kaisers t rasse

79 Landstuhl

West Germany

aiB

NOVEMBER-MARCH, 1984

Group Picture Mid Winter Rally 1983

MID-WINTER

Since 1

have

last written to you, a lot of things

have

happened. Let me try and catch you up on a few of

them. First, Christmas was very enjoyable (yes, it has

been

that long). I

spent

the day withthe

Spencer

family

in PIrmasens. The following week the Mid-Winter Rally

was

held in Ruesselsheim (outside of Frankfurt). The

theme of the rallycentered around Ephesians 4, Iwas

given the topic Presen/ing the Unity of the Spirit. Let

me

share

with you a few of the thoughts that were con

tained in this topic.

What is itthat you believe, that I believe, that would

bind us together? If you ask the first ten people you

meet

on the s tree t to define what a Christian is, you

would probably get ten different answers. Look at the

Christian world (not the religious world) and you se e

confusion.

Their

voice

is not

one

bu t

many.

Not only is

their

speech

different, but their system of worship is

also at variance. So, in a world

such

as

this,

how

does

one talk

about

preserving the unity of the spirit?

It is one thing to create

and

another to preserve that

which is created. Ephesians reveals to us that the

church

is th e creation of God. Itis there tha t the e te rnal

RALLY

purpose of God

the gathering into one the whole

created universe -- is seen. When we

realize that

we

are

not able to create unity among ourselves, but that our

unity comes because of our oneness withGod, we w

be

participants in God s

purpose.

What is the basis of unity? Our first answer is

Jesus

Christ. Itis through him that we have

become adopted

sons and

daughters. But. from where did we learn

about Jesus?

Was it from intuition? nature?

art?

th e

movies? From

what

source

of authority (for

there must

be one) have we come to know him? Either the New

Testament is our source, or we have no sourcel Our

starting point must be the NewTestamentI [Wemay not

dismiss God s clear instruction

with

but

we

all

have

dif

ferent interpretations. Dowe have unlimited freedom in

interpretation.

so, then reason, feeling, or local cir

cumstances

are

our

final authority. Thus, we would

be

carried

in the direction of whichever popular wind

blew.] It cannot be

based

on

creeds

or confessions,

church traditions, or systems of theology (e.g., Calvin s

or Luther s). In

speaking

likethis, we need to realize that

this matter of authority may also be a point of division.


5/6

Keith Giles has joined us. He is married with two

children. He

and

I

have been

looking for an

apartment

so

t ha t he

can ge t the

rest of his family

over

here. It is

good

to

see th e

eagerness and enthusiasm he

shows

in

his service to the Lord. As he works

and

grows here, I

ask

you to pray for him

and

his family.

Of course,

as

time

goes

on people leave us also.

Dennis and Lola Carter along with their not quite 1 year

old, Amanda, left in April for the states. Dennis has

been

our treasurer for

the past

year. Theywill

be

greatly

missed

he re . We

do

wish fo r them

the

best in their new

place

of service to

ou r

Lord.

SPECIAL

EVENTS

In January, we held another Souper Bowl day. We

had about

20

people

come

and

share

their

soups

and

sandwiches

(plus a few

desserts

in a fellowship meal.

Afterwards, we headed for the bowling alley to tackle a

few

games

of bowling.

There was a church outing to the Gutenburg

Museum.

Some

of us

were

able to se e the history of the

printing of the Bible. The children

tha t went

with us

really

enjoyed some

of

the

different displays that

were

available. We go t to se e

some

of

the

city of Mainz

during this trip.

Another church outing took us to the country of Lux

embourg.

Although it is a small country,

the people

were

very friendly. We visited

the

American

cemetary

where a bo ut 5 40 0 soldiers are buried.

General

Patton

isalso buried there. We had about 20 people go on this

trip. They did a littleshopping, sight-seeing, and got a

littletired. It is good when one is able to visit some of

these

places; it is even better

when one

can do it with

Christian

friends.

BIBLE STUDY

We

have been

having a real

good

turnout for

Wednesday evening Bible study. At the present , the

ladies ar e studying a survey of the Bible. The men ar e

studying the history and principles of the restoration

movemen t. We meet

for

about an hour. Afterwards,

everyone

pitches

in

and

helps

clean

the

church

building. It

proves

to be not only profi table - but fun.

And it

does

not

take

us very long. The more

people, the

less

t ime.

The Bible study that was going in Hahn

has

resumed.

We ar e presently going through a book by T.A. Smith

cal led DISCOVERING DISCIPLESHIP. It is proving

useful and helping

us

to grow. Also, some

couples

ar e

becoming acquainted

with New Testament Christianity

through

th e active

work

of

Dave

and Jackie

Newer.

Much

has

already

been

gained.

I

pray

that more will

be

gained as

we

see the

growth of

the group and those

involved.

PROJECT

I

am

working on a new project for the work here at

Landstuhl. Iam trying to purchase a

copy

machine.

The

machine

costs about

1800. Itis very efficient

as

a copy

would run

about

a

penny

a

page.

There are a

number

of

uses

for it -- VBS material,

newsletter,

co r

respondence, promotions. Itwould help in saving time

f rom off ic e work . I can think of a

number

of

benefits

it

would provide. Any contributions toward this would

be

appreciated.

At present, I have about 236. THANKS

. (Ifa Sunday School Class in your Church would like

to help with thisworthy project, please

send

your

dona

tions to Don Bridges, c/o Forwarding Agents, M/M Al

Ashley, 6627 Roxton, Amarillo, TX79109.)

PETITIONS FOR

PRAYER

NEEDS

1.

Guidance

fo r

t h e Chur ch 1.

Names

of Christian or Church of Christ military or

2. Growth of

the

Congregation/Calling

Program

civilians

here

in

Germany

Book Store

2 .

Letters of encouragement

4

Bible

Correspondence Course

News of God's

dealings

with you

5. The Congregation here 4.

Prayers

6

The Bus

Ministry

In

Christ,

Don

FINANCIAL REPORT

November, 1983

-

March,

1984

Balance on Hand 10-31-83. 1,396.91

Income

6,666.90

8,063.81

Rent,

Food

1,173.29

Transportation 780.92

Miscellaneous 2.741.87

4,696.38

Balance on Hand 3-31-84 3,367.43


6/6

Don Bridges leading a class on PreservingThe

nity

of

the Spirit' - Mid-Winter Rally, 1983

Even

Jesus

was confronted by

Jews

who followed the

law of fvloses as interpreted

through

their traditions. We

see him healing on the sabbath, harvesting and eating

grain on the sabbath, eating withsinners, letting sinners

touch him. We should emphasize

once

more that we

should speak

where

the Bible speaks and be silent

where the Bible is silent. Yet. even that is not enough,

we

need

to

speak

as

the Bible

speaks

-- i.e.,

use

the ter

minology of

the

Bible,

We must ask ourselves the quest ion 'How diverse

can we be

and

stillmaintain the unity of

the

Spirit? The

answer is that we must

see

what is necessary for us to

unite

ou r lives to Christ? Itis

no t

news t ha t we mus t hear

the gospe l, believe its message, repent of our sins

(change the direction of our walk),

and

be immersed,

[This last point

seems

to be

debated

on grounds of

creeds, traditions, and theological systems - but Acts

2:38

and 1

Pe t. 3 :21

are still in

the

Bible

with

which

one

must deal,] These

are

things which

are

necessary for us

to enter the kingdom of God, Ifthe apostles' instructions

are to have any value, we

have

no right to decide on

their validity. Where God

has

clearly spoken, we can

only understand and obey.

God has not revealed his mind in everything,

however. Where he

has

not clearly spoken, we

are

free

to

differ from each

other . Thus , it becomes a matter of

Service at Mid-Winter Rally 1963.

deciding

between faith

an d

opinion. What

are the

things that are necessary, and what are not? [Everyone

should take time

and

study 1 Cor, 8-11

an d

Rom. 14,

for to deal with them here would take too much space,)

It is in the area of opinion which

cause

so many pro

blems. When an opinion is elevated to the posi tion of

faith (something that is necessary), we speak where

God

does

not. Paul used his right to appeal to

ivil

powers (Acts 22:25-29). to circumcise Timothy (Acts

16:1-3) and not Titus (Gal. 2:3-5), to marry or not{1 Cor,

9:6-27), At the same time, others also

have these

rights,

but they are not to be bound on another The

question

of eating meat (1 Cor, 8) was an early example of this

problem. Ivlodern issues would be music, style of dress,

drinking, speaking in tongues, prophecy, experiences.

To

make these

issues requirements of faith in

order

for

one

to maintain fellowship with a certain group is mak

ing my salvation determined by your requirements and

n ot G o d s .

Let me end with two thoughts. Unity itself is not the

supreme

goal.

Loyalty to Christ is To

compromise

the

things that are essential for our salvation (e.g.,

substituting sprinkling of

babies

for immersion into

Christ) is as wrong as making our opinions the norm for

being a Christian,Thus, we need to distinguish between

th e

reve lat ion of

God

and

th e

wisdom

of

men,

We ask

for faith,

and

not

for

the deduct ions

of

reasons;

for

th e

testimony of God, and not the

opinions

of men.

t

Harold Fowler

leading

a class on Grieving The Holy

Spirit' - Mid-Winter Rally, 1983.

NEW P OP

We have some new people who are attending now.

One familyis

James and

Carol Walton, They have three

children. Carol

will

be helping with the upcoming VBS

program

and

is

presently

holding a

class

for the

children that come on Wednesday evenings during the

Bible study. Jim

will

be helping in calling

and some

other activities around the church. I ask you to pray for

them

as

they begin t he new

field of

service.

Another familyis Ray Roberts, At the present. Ray is

the only

one

here. The rest of the family will be joining

him this summer after his daughter graduates from high

school. He will greatly ad d to

th e

work

here

in various

ways.

Again,

pray

for

them

in their work

here.

Documents

Bridges Don 1983 Germany