The start of a New Year, the opportunity of a new start with God...

Our next Ministry is planned for Sunday the 31st of January at 15:00 hours at the FEG Wienhausen, Bahnhofstrasse 24, 29342 Wienhausen.

If you need help with transport please write to me so that we can try to organize transport for you:
BeatrizCustodio-Strachan@gmx.de

Preparing for Christmas

This Sunday is the start of Advent. Advent is the season when Christians prepare for Christmas.
The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means: arrival or coming.

What is Christmas? Why do we celebrate Christmas? How do we prepare for Christmas?

Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birth.

Christmas is about celebrating the fact that God cared about us so very much that He, the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth and the whole universe, chose to enter this world as a human baby in order to restore our broken relationship with Him. He came to be the Light of the world, to redeem us, to rescue us and to give us Eternal Life.

At Christmas we re-tell the miraculous story of Jesus' coming into the world and we look forward to His coming again.

During Advent we prepare for Christmas by thanking God for Jesus' first coming into the world as a baby but also we thank God the Father for Jesus' presence among us today through the Holy Spirit and we look forward to His final coming.

We are ready for Christmas not when all the traditional preparations are done but when our heart is ready to receive Christ fully and to surrender ourselves fully to Him and to His will, to give up on what we want and to seek that what He wants by following Him, and having a personal relationship with Him. Part of our preparation for Christmas involves hearing the word of God and spending time in prayer and worshiping our Lord.

So why not come and join us at our next International Ministry?

We would love to receive you there and share this special time with you!

Next International Ministry:

Sunday 6 of December at 15:00 hours.

FeG Wienhausen, Bahnhofstrasse 24 - 29342 Wienhausen

For further information please e-mail BeatrizCustodio-Strachan@gmx.de

'...Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6b

This Bible verse has been the inspiration for 2015 in the International Ministry.

We have throughout this year concentrated on God's word about the Holy Spirit.

God desires for us that we do not live our lives in our human might or in our human power. His wish for us is that we live our lives and do everything in our lives through the might and power of His Holy Spirit.

When we live our lives in our human strength we quickly grow tired and tend to give up on God's call for our life. Of course we get physically tired, our human bodies do get tired, but it is spiritual and emotional tiredness that I speak about here. In order to stay strong spiritually we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

God created each one of us for a purpose. We are on this earth to fulfil that purpose and in order to do so, we need to have to power of the Holy Spirit working within us and through us.

Whether we need to cope with illness or defeat temptation, live life in our families or communities, whether we are serving God in a quiet way or in the midst of a public calling, we need to be able to rely not in our human might and power but in the might and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is there to guide us, to comfort us, to show us the way and to lead us to live the life that God intended for us to live.

Bringing God's purpose for our lives to completion is only achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit, in complete surrender to God, having given Him the control over our lives and of our hearts and minds.

Only when God is in full control of our lives and we live through the power of His Holy Spirit do we live life like God created us to live it.

If you would like information about the next International Ministry please e-mail:
BeatrizCustodio-Strachan@gmx.de

Our Bible Study in English continues on Friday's at 18:30 hours. If you would like to attend the Bible Study please send an e-mail to BeatrizCustodio-Strachan@gmx.de  for further details and the address where the Bible Study takes place.

Be Blessed on this day with the might and power of the Holy Spirit in your Christian life.

In His service,

Beatriz

Being Hospitable to strangers...

Hebrews 13:2 "Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"

On Sunday the 4th of October the Ministry took the form of an "International Coffee Time".  At the end of the coffee time we watched a movie.

A happy group of people from different countries met to drink coffee, eat cakes and to get to know each other. There was a warm atmosphere as those present there spoke happily in different languages.

This Sunday 18.10.2015 at 16:00 hours, the Ministry will take the form of a Bible Study. We will divide into small groups to study the subject: "Who is the Holy Spirit?"

At 17:00 hours we will all meet, in the room that is in the picture above, to drink coffee, eat cake and exchange with each other our thoughts about the Bible readings that will be discussed in the small groups.

Everybody is welcome! whether they have been there before or not. If you haven't been there yet, you are simply a friend we have not yet met! So come and join us!

Please bring your Bible with you, paper and pen. If you are able to do it, please bring a cake with you to share during coffee time!

For further information please e-mail: BeatrizCustodio-Strachan@gmx.de

Next Ministry:

Sunday 18.10.2015 Starting at 16:00 hours - Bible Study and 17:00 hours - Fellowship Time.

FeG Wienhausen. Bahnhofstraße 24, 29342 Wienhausen.

"As Jesus is, so are we..."

On Sunday the 27^th of September we had an International Ministry in the FeG Wienhausen.
Among the different nationalities present, there were people present from Albania, Bolivia, Italia, Mexico, South Africa, Scotland, Uruguay, Estonia, India, Nigeria, Russia, Montenegro and of course Germany! I really hope I haven’t forgotten any nationalities!  We were absolutely delighted to welcome them to the International Ministry.

On Sunday we saw God’s word become a reality: Isaiah 56: 7 b “…for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."

It was a blessing to sit among people from different countries and to hear so many different languages being spoken during our joyful fellowship time after the ministry.

On Sunday we really wanted to put into practice the subject of our second year of the International Ministry which was: “as Jesus is, so are we”

The subject for that year came from John 4:17 “By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.”

We spent the first year of our ministry learning about how we are all foreigners in this world no matter where we were born and that the only way to overcome the difficulties of life in this world is to have Jesus in our lives.

Jesus said in John 16:33 ”…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

At the end of that first year we came to the conclusion that in order to overcome the problems and difficulties of life in this world we don’t just need Jesus in our private lives but we really need to be like Jesus.

This subject continues to be extremely relevant today among us in the International Ministry as we continue to try to be like Jesus was when He walked the earth. We want to welcome everyone, no matter their nationality, their skin colour or language.

If you know people who can’t speak or understand German and are Christians or wish to know about Christ, please invite them to our International Ministry in English on Sunday 11^th of October at 15:00 hours at the FeG Wienhausen.

The ministry will be translated to German, but if we know in advance we can also try to arrange translators for other languages, so please contact us to let us know where you or your guests come from.

And if you or they can already speak German? You and they are also welcome! from other countries or Germany! Everyone is welcome! 

Come and join us and invite others to come too. God rejoices when His house is full of people that wish to get to know Him and each other regardless of the language, after all He speaks all languages!

For further information please call: Beatriz Custodio-Strachan on 05149 2078506 or e-mail BeatrizCustodio-Strachan@gmx.de

Next Ministry: Sunday 11th of October - 15:00 Hours

FeG Wienhausen, Bahnhofstrasse 24, 29342 Wienhausen

Home is not the Land where we live in but with God and in God...

Isaiah 56: 6&7

6"Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."

…” For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."

That right there was the Bible verse that inspired the start of the International Ministry in English. Our hope was to offer a Ministry that would provide a warm, happy and welcoming atmosphere where people from different lands could worship God together in harmony.

This autumn is 3 years since we received the idea to start the Ministry. During the last 3 years the Ministry has changed and evolved into what it is today.

Today the Ministry is not just a church service but what it was intended to be: a Ministry that helps and encourages people.

Looking back over the last 3 years we can see that God has had a plan for the Ministry all along. For us it is not possible to see into the future or what God has planned next, but when we look back we can see a clear path that has developed in the ministry and how that path has brought us to where we are today.

During our first year we concentrated on the subject: “Home is not the land where we live in but with God and in God”. During that whole year we explored what it is like to be a foreigner in this world, not just practically like those of us that come from other countries but for ALL of us, because as Jesus said we are not of this world (John 17:16), we live in this world yes, but we are foreigners here. Yet we still have to deal with all the problems of the world: illness, death, unemployment, family problems, marital problems, hurt, pain, suffering, homelessness, etc.

So how, as Christians, do we live in a world where we are foreigners when we are faced with all these situations? Jesus did not say that we would as Christians never again have a problem or a difficulty. NO, in fact He said very clearly: “in this world you will have trouble”. But then right away Jesus encourages us forward, He says: “… but take heart, for I have overcome the world”. So how does that apply to us? Well it is only with Jesus in our lives that we too can overcome the world and all life’s troubles.

The subject of that first year has never been more relevant than today when we see so many refugees come into Germany. As a foreigner myself I know how hard it is to live in this world as a foreigner, without our own culture, without close family and friends. If it is hard to live with life’s troubles in our own lands, maybe in the houses that our families have lived in for years, surrounded by all that we have known all of our lives, imagine how hard it is to face life’s problems in a foreign land!

We as the International Ministry in English continue to be there to serve those that need us or want us there. If you or people you know can’t speak or understand German and are Christians or wish to know about Christ, please come along to our next ministry  on Sunday 27 September at 14:30. Come and join us and invite others to come too. Even if you can speak and understand German, you will be very welcome. God rejoices when His house is full of people that wish to worship Him regardless of the language, after all He speaks all languages!

Next Ministry:

Sunday 27th September at 14:30

In the FeG Wienhausen

Bahnhofstrasse 24

29342 Wienhausen