Christmas Eve

Hi again. Christmas Eve in Austria is the biggie. They don't really focus on the 25th, everything revolves around the 24th. So today we had a special Christmas Eve Brekky and will have Christmas Eve Dinner tonight, so I thought I would share a few photos.



God bless you all

Steve

Happy Christmas

Well, it's that time of year again. We have had the snow and the lights and the Christmas Markets, but best of all, we are here together serving our God.

Click on the play button to see and hear a Christmas greeting.

Carolyn, Lindsay and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a blessed Christmas and to thank you all for your prayers and emails. It is a blessing to hear form you.

It is a wonderful to know and serve Jesus; Emmanuel, God with us. Our prayer, this Christmas, is that you would all come to know Him better than before and to truly worship the Christ of Christmas this year and forevermore.

God bless you all.

All our love
Steve, Carolyn and Lindsay.
Austria 2008

Big Snow

Well as you can see from the pictures, we have had a heap of snow arrive recently. It was exciting for all of us especially with Christmas drawing close. It is a bit strange to be here in the cold leading up to Christmas rather than body boarding at Secret Harbour beach in 40 degress Celcius.

We spent quite a while shoveling and clearing snow so we could continue with normal life, and also had some fun!

Carolyn and I are doing well. I have had a few bouts of flu, but this is to be expected with the weather and all. Carolyn has started a ladies craft night here at the castle on Tuesday nights, and so Maxine and Suzanne and Carolyn sat together and Maxine showed them how to create some wonderful picture frames. I think over the weeks ahead they will be doing Cross-Stitch and are hoping to be able to make some clothes for an orphanage in Hungary or Romania.


Lindsay has been working on the church web site which should be up and running shortly. He has been helping with worship at church and dealing with lots of different things here at the Castle. He is enjoying his time here I think. We even manage to get in a few games of Siedler on a night time. This is a wonderful German board game that a bunch of us have been playing.

I have been helping out by teaching Wednesday night Bible studies at church while Robin and Alison were away. This is always a privilege and a blessing to me.

God had placed it on my heart to teach on prayer, and so we did. As usual, I get the most out of the studies as I always feel God is teaching me alone. As a result, I have really begun to spend more time alone with God in prayer. Seems silly to think I would do otherwise, but often I just try and do things myself instead of placing myself before God's Throne and allowing Him to change me and mould me and empower me and give me the wisdom for the life I am leading.

Today at devotions I read from Mathew 7:7 - 11, where Jesus teaches us that God really wants to hear from us. Not only that, but God actually is more loving than the best father figure we could imagine, and Jesus points out that this being the case, "How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him". So I am reminded again to bring everything to God in prayer and He knows what is best for me, and loves me more than I can ever imagine, therefore I can present my prayers before him in total confidence. It is a great place to be!

I have begun praying for our Summer of Service Teams, for next year, and would ask that you do the same, as God will draw people to the Castle here in Austria who want to serve Him with their whole heart and he will do a work in their lives.

Please pray for the students who will come in April for the first Semester of the School of Apologetics. Again that they will be people who will allow God to change them and grow closer to Him during this special time. Pray for Alex as he heads up the School of Apologetics and for his wife Laura, as they now have a beautiful new baby, Caleb. Check out the new website Alex has recently completed here then click on School of Apologetics.

Please pray for each of the staff here, Robin and Alison, Maxine, Akos, Alex, Laura and their three children, Grace, Livia and Caleb, Natalie and David, Bekky, Anita, Suzanne, Lindsay and of course Carolyn and I. We really need and appreciate your prayers.

God bless you all, I hope to update this blog before Christmas.