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GREATER EUROPE MISSION
- SHIRLEY UNGER |
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LATEST
NEWS |
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Here is the
latest news from Shirley Unger. |
From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 1:21 PM
Subject: greetings from Germany
Hi there.
Sorry I haven’t written sooner to update you all. Things
have been a little busy over here.
There have been a lot of hospitality things going on. A
couple from our area is returning to the US at the end of this
month, and another family is starting their totalization/home
assignment for a year. So last week we had an evening of
baked potato stackups and prayer time for both families.
This week I made a meal for the couple preparing to leave.
I also made some sweets for a memorial service. A staff
member from the BFA school passed away on Easter Sunday after
something happened while she was still in the hospital
recovering from hip replacement surgery. Please pray for
the school community as they’ve been dealing with this loss.
Mari Ellen had served at the school for a number of years in
different capacities.
And next week we’ll be
helping the couple who are leaving with loading their container.
I’m making another meal, as well as some goodies for during the
loading.
Right now I’m in a hotel lobby a couple of hours north of
Frankfurt, checking on a potential site for our 2013 annual
conference. I have a break on working with one this year
since we decided to take a break for a year. Folks are
getting involved with the Olympics and doing other things
instead for a year. We’ll see how it goes, and then
possibly make this a habit for the future.
Tomorrow my coworker Elena
and I will travel to Bonn to help our coworkers who serve
throughout Germany – they’re having their strategic planning
retreat, and we’re helping to watch the little ones while they
meet. We’ll be there from tomorrow evening till noon
Sunday, then drive back to Kandern and Muellheim. Pray for our
time with the kids and the adults’ time planning. Pray for
safe travels home as well.
I had to take my car in last week – a muffler issue. It’s
doing a lot better now. I’ll have to get tires changed
next week, so there’s always something.
Keep praying as I prepare for my time back in North America.
The plans are to fly over mid-August and return here early
February. Tickets are reserved, and I’ll purchase them
soon. I have learned that it’s not necessary to do the six
months after in another part of Europe, so I’ll have the six
months in NA, then come back to Germany. I’ve also heard
from my landlady, who’s open to my subletting for 6 months – now
I just need to find someone who might want to rent a place for a
short time. I do have a possible couple wanting to use my
car while I’m away. Keep praying for the schedule in NA as well
– I’d still like a place to stay, even a month at a time, and a
vehicle I could make use of.
I have a short span of time to connect to the internet for free
here, so I’ll close off now. Trust you’re doing well.
Thanks for praying. I’ll work on writing more soon.
Shirley
éTop |
From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 9:17 AM
Subject: Greetings from Budapest
The first month of this new year has flown by. I’m ending the
month here in Budapest – got here about a half hour ago. The
folks in leadership roles in ministries and fields throughout
Europe will meet beginning this evening and we’ll leave on
Thursday to go back to our ministries. We appreciate your
prayers for our time of learning from each other and spending
time encouraging one another. The focus for the next few years
is on 50 cities throughout Europe.
My coworker Bob and his girls got back from the US a few weeks
ago so the girls could get back in school. Bob’s wife Elena
hopes to return this coming week. Her dad had bi-pass surgery
that went well last week. Continue to pray for his recovery –
his name is Neil.
Bob and I have had time to work on potential projects for this
year and into the coming year. Teams are slowly developing. A
number are going to serve during the Olympics in Great Britain
this summer. We appreciate your prayers for how we can serve
best. Things like finances, other places with seemingly
immediate needs, etc come as hindrances for folks in North
America. But interest does continue to come in, and we seek to
partner teams with sites in the most effective way we can to
meet needs.
I’ll write more soon. Thanks for being a part of my ministry
through prayer, and many through finances.
Shirley
éTop |
From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 4:32 AM
Subject: Greetings from Germany
Greetings from Kandern, Germany.
Well, we got snow last night, and it looks like it might stick.
Before this it was rainy for a couple of weeks. I prefer the
snow at this time of year, though it was a little slushy to
drive in this morning.
A number of the ladies in our area decided to take a break for
the day on Saturday, and we took the train to Titisee. It ended
up that we needed to take the train, then a bus to our first
stop, then change trains in Freiburg to get to our destination.
Though the time in Titisee was made a little shorter, we still
enjoyed the day together. Most of these ladies have preschool or
elementary age children, so it was nice for them to get out a
bit without the kids.
In spite of the fun we had on Saturday, this weekend has been a
little stressful as well. My coworker Bob’s father-in-law had a
series of heart attacks on Thursday evening/Friday morning. He
found out he has diabetes as well. His right side had 100%
blockage, so 2 stints were put in. He will be going home today
sometime, but will need to have either 4 stints put in his left
side, which is 95% blocked or possibly by-pass surgery. As a
result, Bob and his wife Elena and their two daughters left this
morning to be with the family.
With my coworkers Matt and
Kim and their families already gone, this means I’m on my own
for EuroTeam for the next few weeks (though we will close the
office next week for Christmas break) and the plans for spending
Christmas with this family have also had to be changed.
Please pray with me for Bob and Elena and her family. She has 3
siblings and her mom. I know her parents are believers and I
believe the siblings are as well. Pray for Elena’s dad Neil as
he goes through this and for the medical staff working to help
him.
Pray that I’ll work on the
things that need to be done while Bob is away and leave the rest
in God’s hands to be done at a later date if needed. Pray that
I’ll be encouraged even as I work in our office area on my own
(there are others in other parts of the building).
Thanks for your love and prayers for me and my coworkers, for
our ministry in short term teams in Europe. Pray with us for
teams to form and be sent out in the new year for us to further
this ministry and partner with European ministries that seek to
reach Europe for Christ.
Attached is my latest
newsletter, a review of this past year. May you enjoy the
blessing of remembering the birth of Christ this Christmas and
be encouraged as we enter a new year.
In Christ,
Shirley
éTop |
From: Shirley Unger
To: Shirley Unger
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:08 AM
Subject: RE: greetings from Kandern, Germany
Greetings on a cool fall day here in Kandern.
Early last week we had a taste of the end of summer, or that’s
how it felt. I was out in the vineyards last Tuesday, as it was
a holiday here. I wasn’t alone out there – people were out as
couples, families, friends. There were folks walking, riding
bikes, riding horseback, using walkers or canes. I often take a
book along to stop at the benches along the way and read a bit –
I ended up doing more walking than reading since so many people
were out and stopping along the way as well. It was a great
opportunity to enjoy the changes in color, the warmth in the
day, and the culture of the community.
It’s been so enjoyable to drive to work the past couple of weeks
– the colors of the trees have been so amazing to take in. I’ve
noticed this week that many of the trees are becoming more
barren, shedding their colorful coats for the coming winter. A
couple of days ago I even managed to see a fox by the road,
almost blending in with all the leaves on the ground.
For the last two months I’ve been taking an online class with
some of the others in leadership roles in the mission. It’s
relative to the use of member care with those we lead. It’s been
a bit time consuming at times to keep up with the reading and
interacting through a forum, but I’m trusting it will strengthen
my skills in that area for those I work with. We have 3 more
weeks of the course to go.
Next week those in our top leadership roles in GEM on the field
will be gathering here for meetings. I’ve been facilitating
their transportation and housing needs, and during their time
with us I’ll be making sure they are fed. There are others in
the area providing meals and snacks – I’ll just need to get
things set up and be sure they have everything they need. Please
pray for our leadership team as they gather and work through
various things. There will be seven of them meeting from Monday
evening through Thursday evening.
I’m also working in preparation for the next meeting these
leaders will have, along with our GEM president and others in
leadership roles from North America, followed by meetings with
our field and ministry leaders in late January/early February.
These will take place in Budapest, Hungary.
American Thanksgiving is soon upon us, and I’m working through
logistics for our GEM Kandern time of fellowship for that as
well. So lots of planning and logistics coming together in the
days and months ahead!
In our women’s Bible study Wednesday evenings we’re going
through 1 & 2 Timothy right now. We did 1 & 2 Thessalonians last
month. There are up to 5 ladies that meet – we were up to 7, but
a couple had to cancel out. There are two of us from GEM, two
who serve at Black Forest Academy, and a lady who is originally
from India – she and her family have lived in England and are
now in our area. It’s a good mixture, especially when we’re all
there. Last night there were just 3 of us, which makes for a
little less discussion. We’re trusting a few more will join in
the new year.
The English outreach in Schliengen started up last month again,
but I haven’t had an opportunity to assist this time. They’re
half way through, and from what I hear, things are going well.
My coworker Bob and I have been communicating a lot with
potential teams as well as the sites to prepare for the coming
year. Bob was at some meetings a couple of weeks ago to find out
more on bringing teams to participate in outreach during the
Olympics in Great Britain. Here are some of the other potential
opportunities:
OM Belgium offices would love to have a team, possibly even a
combination of construction and evangelistic outreach. They’re
asking for teams in spring or fall. They’re looking for
carpenters, handymen, painters, finishers. The work is to
rebuild the new offices. Teams can be from 6-10 or even up to
15.
College Daniel (Christian elementary French school) in
Guebwiller, France would like to have teams come to continue on
the construction needs, as well as to do prayer walking. They’d
like to finish the classrooms we’ve started for them, finish the
outdoor toilet rooms, refinish the veranda on the chateau, strip
& wax the rear stairwell, do work on the grounds (landscaping)
and some maintenance/cleaning. They’re open to teams as big as
20. They say spring, summer or fall is good for them.
The camp at Zelena Dolina in Croatia would like TEFL and
construction teams in spring or fall. There’s woodworking, the
cabins, cement work. They’d like more cabins, to renovate one of
the existing buildings, and to make a cement pad for sports.
Teams can be from 6-10 people.
The evangelical church in Landskrona, Sweden contacted us
recently. They’re ready for the next step, which is to make the
church accessible for the handicapped by placing an elevator on
the outside of the building and put two toilets on the ground
floor and close off two on the top floor. They said summer is
good for them, with a team of 10-15.
Scot Musser from the ECA (Christian School) in Spain emailed to
say they’re ready to start. They’re open to a team of
construction, with some evangelistic outreach. They’d like a
team in spring. They’d like to work on pouring for a basketball
court, enclosing a back porch to make into dressing rooms, and
putting up a chain link fence around the playground. They’d take
teams of 6-10.
And Drewstown, a conference center in Ireland would love to have
teams come to do decorating, general building, electrical,
plumbing. They’d like to finish the wood floors in the main
house and develop the apartments in the existing building. They
can take teams of 15-20. Drewstown’s main issue is that there is
much work to be done, but not the funds to do it. Bob and I were
talking, and thought maybe we could work on recruiting a team
that could raise additional funds to help support the financial
needs to start something for them.
LaPastorale camp in Southern France has sent the dates of April
7-21 as a time they’d love to see a team come out to continue on
renovation work.
There are opportunities in Cologne, Germany in April and in
Stockholm, Sweden in May for teams to come and do some
evangelistic outreach with the missionaries in the area.
Please pray with us about these projects as we seek to pull
together teams to work in partnership with these ministries in
some way. And if you or your churches are interested in knowing
more about one of these opportunities or about how to be
involved in next year’s Olympics, let me know. I’ll be happy to
share about how you and others can be involved.
Thanks for your prayers and continued interest in my ministry in
Europe. For those in Canada, I trust you had a great
Thanksgiving time last month. And for those in the US, I trust
you’ll enjoy your time. It’s great that we can give thanks at
any time, though. I’m thankful for folks like you who make it
possible for me to serve over here, either through your prayers,
your encouraging notes, and/or your contributions financially to
my ministry.
Shirley
éTop |
From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 7:34 AM
Subject: greetings from the warmth of Kandern, Germany
Hello there.
I’m enjoying a great start to fall. The mornings are on the
cooler side, where I have to remove the dew from the car and
warm things up for my travel to the office. And then by the time
the work day is completed, I’m ready to put the windows down or
even turn on the cooler air for the ride home! The sun has been
most welcome.
This past Saturday I had a little visitor. He didn’t much like
his brief stay and made quite a commotion about it. He was a
sweet little thing, but I wasn’t so sure about having him stay
either. So with a little apprehension on both our parts, I
managed to get the kitchen window open, and he welcomed his
release.
We have a lot of birds around our area, and some of them are
fairly small, flying near the window areas. I had my window
tilted to let some air in, and this little bird slipped in but
didn’t know how to slip back out. I heard some banging on the
window and wondered what was hitting the kitchen window, never
dreaming that it was from the inside! After he managed to perch
on my refrigerator, I was able to open the window wide and let
him out. Screens are not used here much, though they do now sell
pieces of screening that you can apply to the window frame. The
last couple of days while I’ve been at the office I’ve put my
rolladen (a great type of roll down blind that Germans use
outside the window) down a bit to make the gap a little smaller
when the window is tilted open.
The previous weekend I had gone to our neighboring village,
Auggen, for their wine festival. The weather wasn’t quite as
nice – rainy and cool – but I looked through the flea market
before they shut down for the day, and then went in for a nice
bowl of soup and a lovely piece of a cherry torte (great dessert
somewhere between a regular cake and a cheesecake). One could
listen to their folk music while enjoying the food.
A couple of weeks ago I started in the women’s evening Bible
Study. We’re starting off with 1 Thessalonians. There are about
7 of us now – we started with 4 the first night, so it’s nice to
have a bit bigger group. We meet in our GEM conference room on
Wednesday evenings.
I did enjoy my time away earlier this month – a chance to relax
a bit and just enjoy a break. I managed to stop in the
Salzkammergut area of Austria and stay in a guesthouse near one
of the lakes on the way to Budapest, and then beside another of
the lakes on the way home. The weather was cool on the way
there, but much warmer traveling back. Once in Budapest I had to
ask assistance from 3 different gas attendants before finding my
way to my destination! They were all gracious, and the last one
asked where my GPS was! I’ve thought about getting one, but then
the funds end up being spent on other things, so I had hoped
google maps would be enough . The hotel I was able to stay at
was lovely – it will be where we have leadership meetings in
late January/early February. So part of this trip for pleasure
was to work on details to prepare for those meetings.
I spent a lot of time with Claudia Lucas, a Hungarian lady who
works with GEM and other organizations to find sites and work
with sites for different conferences/meetings. She’s a special
lady, and we really appreciate her service to us. I have enjoyed
working more personally with her over the years for our annual
conference. In spite of the fact that she works with a lot of
mission organizations like ours Claudia is still not a believer
as far as we know. Would you pray with me that her heart would
be softened to the gospel as we and other believers continue to
partner with her in this way?
Bob (my co-leader) and I are working on things to prepare for
teams in 2012. Our other two coworkers who are based in Germany,
Matt and Kim (and their families) are away from us for the
coming year – pray for them as they travel and build up teams as
well as personal support in this year away. We still communicate
once a week (when they’re able to) with them and our coworkers
in Greece – we appreciate the advances of technology to allow us
to be in touch in this way.
I’m still working through what other avenues of service I will
get involved in for the fall and winter – I appreciate your
prayers on that.
Thanks so much for your prayers for me personally and for the
ministry of EuroTeam in Greater Europe Mission. I appreciate
hearing from you personally as well when you’re able to drop a
note and say how things are going on your end.
Shirley
éTop |
From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Monday, September 05, 2011 8:22 AM
Subject: Greetings from Germany
Greetings to each of you.
I trust you’re enjoying the last day of this Labor day weekend,
and that the weather allowed you to perhaps enjoy the outdoors
before fall sets in.
It has been quite a while since I took a moment to write. Now
that the full summer is almost over, I’m trusting that I’ll get
back to a more regular time of keeping each of you updated on
the ministry here in Europe.
July and August were full, first with final details for our GEM
annual conference. At the same time my coworker Bob had a small
team out in Serbia, and preparations were being made for teams
going out right after conference to Serbia and Poland. I managed
to pull together an evening to say farewell to some folks headed
to the US for the coming year as well.
I headed for Poland on July 27 to meet with the hotel staff and
our travel coordinator in preparation for the conference. It was
a full couple of days, taking care of logistics before everyone
arrived on the 30th. We had some great teams from North America
who came out to serve our missionaries, the missionary kids,
computer needs, medical needs and to lead us in worship. I was
told by many that this was the best conference ever – great
hotel, awesome speaker (Steve Smith, who was teaching about T4T
(Training for Trainers – website is http://t4tonline.org/), nice
schedule, time for excursions (like Auschwitz), helpful
seminars. People found it a challenging but encouraging time. I
personally didn’t get to as many of the sessions as some years
with my responsibilities in overseeing a lot this year, but I’m
glad that our mission family were greatly encouraged. The
teachings were videotaped, so I have an opportunity to catch up
on what I missed.
I returned very late on August 4th. On the 5th I was at the
office to help unload our supplies and to get finances for one
of our teams headed to Poland right away. The following week I
took some time to work through the finances from our travel for
conference, as well as for projects from the month of July.
After that I managed to take a couple of days just to rest and
catch up on reading for pleasure.
The weeks following our conference have been times to work on
post-conference things – getting out an evaluation, reviewing it
as results came in, and working on finances – sorting through
the bills from the hotel and shuttle companies, as well as
getting bills out to guests. As well, there were post-team
reports to hear from Serbia and Poland and financial reports to
go through for the teams. We had a team from a local German
church in Serbia doing ground work for a camp there – I was told
it was one of the best teams we’ve had. They would rise early
and stop early in the afternoon to do the physical labor, as the
weather was extremely hot. And a team largely from Canada was in
Poland, helping a church out with some construction needs there.
Things are now settling down. In fact later this week I’m headed
through Austria to Budapest, Hungary. The purpose is largely
just to get a break. Our travel coordinator from Budapest has
made the arrangements. It’s also a bit of business – this
location is going to be used for some leadership meetings in
January/February, so we’ll be able to work on details with the
site while I’m there.
In the EuroTeam part of our office here in Kandern it’s down to
my coworker Bob and me for the coming months. Coworkers Kim and
Matt and their families are away for the coming months. Bob and
I are taking time to look ahead at 2012 and beyond. One event
that Bob’s been working on is preparing for teams from Europe in
Great Britain for the Olympics next summer. And we’re working
with current sites, as well as new ones on projects where we can
bring teams to do construction, as well as evangelistic
outreaches in the years to come. We even met with some of our
GEM coworkers from Cologne last week on partnering together for
a major conference for German church leaders to participate in
for 2013. It was exciting to work on how we can serve together!
Pray for me as I work on how I might use my time outside of my
main ministry for this fall/winter. Our English evenings are on
hold for the fall, but we do hope to keep having events with
those who attended in spring. I’m working on a neighborhood
event at the office for this month – our GEM Kandern folks try
to get together once a month and I thought it would be nice to
include our neighbors in between. I haven’t worked out all the
details, but hope this will be a good opportunity to spend time
with them.
I will be participating in an evening women’s Bible study again.
I’m working through whether I should help with some things
through the church or do something in my own community in the
months to come.
Thanks for your faithfulness in prayer and in interest in my
ministry here in Europe. Keep in touch on what’s happening in
your lives as well.
Shirley Unger
éTop |
From: Unger, Shirley
To: Unger, Shirley
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 6:09 AM
Subject: Re: Greetings from Germany
After just a couple of hours, one item is now a praise - a
co-worker, Dana, was able to get my computer up and running
again. It was a concern not to have email access at home if it
didn't get back up, especially with my responsibilities at
conference next week. Thanks.
Pray that a new bank card
will come in for me this week and that the old one will get to
my bank to be destroyed. And pray that we at EuroTeam would have
wisdom in how to cover the costs of the unexpected repairs to
the truck.
Shirley
On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at
11:08 AM, Unger, Shirley <shirley.unger@gemission.org> wrote:
Hello there.
Thanks for your prayers for my time away at the end of
June/beginning of July. The travel went well - I did manage to
get lost a couple of times -maps and cell phones helped me along
the way. I enjoyed a day in Brugge, Belgium with the team from
California, Texas and Florida. Then I was able to work alongside
the team for two days. I had the task of sawing some wooden
beams in half. After a while, I was busy throwing 'mud' into
areas on the church wall that needed to be filled. The second
day I provided the water to help the mud stick while others had
a chance to throw the mud in. I ended the day chiseling out
pieces from the outer wall that needed replacing. The team was
able to help take out a wall and build an arch so that the
church has more space for those coming to the church. This
church is in Fontaine L'Eveque, Belgium - a church that is
reaching out to many needy people in their community. We were
glad to be able to assist them for these two weeks and look
forward to sending them more teams.
My coworker Bob is away on another project at a camp in Serbia -
pray for him and his team from Illinois and California as they
assist the camp. The team had a burden to share Christ with the
neighbor - we can be praying for the seeds and watering in that
family. A team from Germany will also be working at this site in
August.
A little over a week ago I reached a certain landmark in my life
- I'll be '39' and holding for a while. I had a good day with my
coworkers.
Our GEM annual conference is less than two weeks away now. And
there are plenty of things to get done before I leave next
Wednesday. I've been feeling a lot of spiritual testing in the
last few days, so I'd really covet your prayers. It started on
Friday with a bank machine taking my German bank card for no
logical reason - now I'm in the process of getting a new one.
Then Saturday night I was doing some things on my computer - the
file I was reading froze up on me, so I did the logical thing of
closing down and then tried to reboot. When I did that, my
computer stopped working. I'm having someone look at it today.
Fortunately I've been saving all my files related to our annual
conference on a stick, and I'm able to access my email account
on the office computer. What will be more difficult is keeping
up with last minute things from home in the evenings. Please
pray that there will be a quick and good repair to this
situation - and if not,that I will be able to salvage what I can
to start anew. Sunday I had a minor thing happen, and today I
got a call from our mechanic that our EuroTeam truck needs the
breaks replaced. The truck leaves for the conference with
supplies a week from tomorrow, so there isn't much time. This is
an expense we were not expecting - just last month we replaced
the tires. So as you can see, I truly desire your prayers at
this time, that I will lean on the Lord through these trials and
trust Him to make it throught these things in our ministry here.
On a more positive side, yesterday afternoon we had a fellowship
time with many of those who were in our English evenings, along
with their families. We grilled some burgers and wurst, and
everyone brought salads & desserts to share - a nice mixture of
German and North American foods. We played a little Pictionary,
but mainly talked in English in small groups - they love to
practise their English whenever they can. Relationships are
being developed. We hope to do something again in August. And
there are plans to start up another English evening in the fall.
Continue to pray with us for this group.
Please pray for the conference itself as well. There will be
almost 300 adults, over 50 children and over 40 teens (who meet
in a separate location near us). The speaker, Steve Smith, was
the one who led many of our leadership in some seminars in late
May/early June near Basel.
Shirley
éTop |
From: Unger, Shirley
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 4:08 AM
Subject: Greetings from Germany
Hello there.
Thanks for your prayers for my time away at the end of
June/beginning of July. The travel went well - I did manage to
get lost a couple of times -maps and cell phones helped me along
the way. I enjoyed a day in Brugge, Belgium with the team from
California, Texas and Florida. Then I was able to work alongside
the team for two days. I had the task of sawing some wooden
beams in half. After a while, I was busy throwing 'mud' into
areas on the church wall that needed to be filled. The second
day I provided the water to help the mud stick while others had
a chance to throw the mud in. I ended the day chiseling out
pieces from the outer wall that needed replacing. The team was
able to help take out a wall and build an arch so that the
church has more space for those coming to the church. This
church is in Fontaine L'Eveque, Belgium - a church that is
reaching out to many needy people in their community. We were
glad to be able to assist them for these two weeks and look
forward to sending them more teams.
My co-worker Bob is away on another project at a camp in Serbia
- pray for him and his team from Illinois and California as they
assist the camp. The team had a burden to share Christ with the
neighbor - we can be praying for the seeds and watering in that
family. A team from Germany will also be working at this site in
August.
A little over a week ago I reached a certain landmark in my life
- I'll be '39' and holding for a while. I had a good day with my
coworkers.
Our GEM annual conference is less than two weeks away now. And
there are plenty of things to get done before I leave next
Wednesday. I've been feeling a lot of spiritual testing in the
last few days, so I'd really covet your prayers. It started on
Friday with a bank machine taking my German bank card for no
logical reason - now I'm in the process of getting a new one.
Then Saturday night I was doing some things on my computer - the
file I was reading froze up on me, so I did the logical thing of
closing down and then tried to reboot. When I did that, my
computer stopped working. I'm having someone look at it today.
Fortunately I've been saving all my files related to our annual
conference on a stick, and I'm able to access my email account
on the office computer. What will be more difficult is keeping
up with last minute things from home in the evenings. Please
pray that there will be a quick and good repair to this
situation - and if not, that I will be able to salvage what I
can to start anew. Sunday I had a minor thing happen, and today
I got a call from our mechanic that our EuroTeam truck needs the
breaks replaced. The truck leaves for the conference with
supplies a week from tomorrow, so there isn't much time. This is
an expense we were not expecting - just last month we replaced
the tires. So as you can see, I truly desire your prayers at
this time, that I will lean on the Lord through these trials and
trust Him to make it through these things in our ministry here.
On a more positive side, yesterday afternoon we had a fellowship
time with many of those who were in our English evenings, along
with their families. We grilled some burgers and wurst, and
everyone brought salads & desserts to share - a nice mixture of
German and North American foods. We played a little Pictionary,
but mainly talked in English in small groups - they love to
practise their English whenever they can. Relationships are
being developed. We hope to do something again in August. And
there are plans to start up another English evening in the fall.
Continue to pray with us for this group.
Please pray for the conference itself as well. There will be
almost 300 adults, over 50 children and over 40 teens (who meet
in a separate location near us). The speaker, Steve Smith, was
the one who led many of our leadership in some seminars in late
May/early June near Basel.
Shirley
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From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 4:07 PM
Subject: quick note from Shirley
Greetings from warm, humid Germany.
Sorry it’s been so long since I last wrote. After the conference
in May I was working to help prepare for a project in Belgium
and catch up on prep for our annual conference, as well as help
prepare for other team projects this summer. And now I’m headed
out to Belgium myself for a few days to join the team that’s
working on a church building. It will be a break from work in
the office, but I’ll have plenty of catch up to do when I get
back. And I’ll be doing some physical labor instead of so much
mental work.
Attached is
my latest prayer letter. The Canada post is keeping it from
going out the old fashioned way, so you get to enjoy it for a
time before they’ll even see it.
Please pray as I am on the roads on my own Tuesday and then
Sunday, as well as for the project, which is ongoing this week
and next. Praise that this church is growing so much that they
asked for teams to come and help them make more space. And
praise for the 20 some Belgian believers working alongside the
team from the US.
And be praying as we work these next few weeks before
conference. As well, be praying for a small team of 4 going to
Serbia with my coworker Bob and his family beginning in early
July.
Thanks for your prayers.
Shirley Unger
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From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 2:25 PM
Subject: greetings from Germany
Hello there.
Trust you’re doing well today.
Some things are slowing down here. Bible study ended last
week with a pot luck dinner. English outreach is formally
done, but we’re still finding ways to connect. Last week
there was a movie night.
At the same time other things are keeping us busy. Today a
conference of training in reaching our communities for Christ
started just outside Basel, Switzerland. We have been busy
preparing for this conference in the past few weeks, and
yesterday we took turns picking up folks from the airport to the
conference center. When everyone arrives, there will be
about 56 people in all involved either as participants or
presenters. Please pray for this time, as missionaries
spend some concentrated time in learning. I am going back
& forth every couple of days to check on logistical things.
So far we’ve been fortunate to get everyone in – we hear that
the volcano in Iceland is acting up a bit again – pray that this
doesn’t affect flights still coming in or later next week when
folks are heading back to their homes and ministries.
Colds and stomach viruses have been going around. I got
the cold one last week and am still not fully recovered.
Pray for full health to return and for co-workers who have been
going through one or the other bug.
Once this conference in Switzerland is over I’ll need to spend
some quality time on preparing for our GEM conference in late
July/early August. Tomorrow I’ll get a chance to go over
some things with the program person and our contact to the
conference site.
We’ve had lovely warm weather. We’ve had a bit of rain,
but could use a little more. I’ve been able to put in some
nice plants on my balcony and enjoy them when I’m home.
Thanks so much for your prayers. Greatly appreciated.
Shirley
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From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 8:25 AM
Subject: greetings from Germany
Hi there.
Thanks for your prayers as I was in southern France. We
had a good time together as a team, and were able to get a start
to some work that really needed done. The guys worked hard
on improving the bathrooms/showers, and the camp folks hope to
finish it themselves before the busy summer ahead.
Since then I enjoyed a
lovely Easter. We had an Easter Monday breakfast, and
invited those who have been going to our English outreach.
About four families joined us for a good morning. Later in
the week some of us also went out for dinner, another
opportunity to interact outside of class. Tonight is the
last night of class. We’re hoping to find ways to interact
on a monthly basis after this. Pray for what should be
done in the fall, as many who have been working on this ministry
will be away for a year.
This past weekend was a
full one – a magical wedding, the pope now classified a saint,
and the death of a major terrorist, not to mention Canada
getting a majority government after many years. Yet all
these joyous, mysterious and challenging things are nothing
compared to what our future holds as believers!
These past two weeks have
been busy ones in the office too. Keeping up with upcoming
teams, catching up on things for a training conference at the
end of this month, the annual conference in August, doing the
annual budgets, and catching up at home have been a few of the
things I’ve worked on. In just an hour or so I’m going to
head out for an early weekend away – it will be nice to take a
break and have no access to internet or emails! Two other
coworkers and I are headed for Poland for fun and to get some
pottery. The weather’s great, and I’m glad to take a bit
of time away, though I know the work will still be there when I
get back.
I appreciate your prayers
– hope to send pictures of some of the work we did at the camp
sometime next week.
Shirley
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From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2011 12:56 PM
Subject: hi from Southern France
We’ve had a great first week here in southern France.
Overall the weather has been fine, though it’s a little cooler
than when we arrived a week ago.
Co-worker Bob almost went home after two nights here due to
reacting to something at the camp. After changing rooms,
getting some medication and getting some new bedding, he’s
improved and he and his family have been able to stay, which is
great.
Some have been working on bathrooms, others on curtains and
putting together pictures for the walls. I’ve re-dug a
trench, dug out old nails & screws in an area they needed for
parking (hope we got them all!), done some wallpapering in a
room and stained window shutters that need to be put up.
I’ve also helped with watching the younger kids in between so we
can take turns doing other things.
The food is great – they always feed us well here at LaPastorale.
We had a morning to go to a market and a day to visit a village
on a hill. We’ve had evenings together to watch movies,
read or play games. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’re
enjoying the time as a team.
Often when we’re here we don’t get to see the camp in action.
The weekend we arrived there was a group of kids age 6-10 from
the church spending two days at the camp together, having fun
times and times to learn more spiritually. This weekend we
have a group training to lead kids’ programs, a sports program
group, a kids’ scouts group, and then tonight a group of 15
arrive from Paris to come and do work alongside our team.
At dinner they say we’ll have over a hundred here – it’s
exciting to see how much the camp is used to share God’s love.
English evenings have gone well – I missed this weeks’ time
being here. We’ve invited the class to join us for Easter
brunch on Easter Monday – we’ll see how many join us.
Thanks for your prayers as we’re involved in short term teams to
assist the work in Europe.
Shirley
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From: Shirley Unger
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2011 8:47 AM
Subject: a note from Shirley
Hi there.
After tonight we’ll be midway through our six weeks of English
evenings in Schliengen. It’s been kind of interesting to see
that none of those who come actually live in this village – they
are all from surrounding villages, towns and cities. The Lord
does have a sense of humor – we put together certain things
thinking that’s the way to go, and He chooses to give us other
channels.
Tonight we’re talking about our jobs. We as the teachers can’t
come right out and share about our faith since these evenings
are being done through the adult education program in the area,
so we’ll have to be wise and creative in sharing about our
‘jobs’. A number of those who usually help ‘teach’ won’t be
there tonight, and even some of those coming have had a busy
week of meetings in another country, just returning or are not
feeling physically well. We’d appreciate your prayers for each
English speaker tonight for the physical energy, and pray for
those coming for the first time to fill in. Pray for our German
speakers as well – they seem to be having a great time. Some are
starting to ask about opportunities to meet outside the English
evenings, which is great.
Last week I offered to help put together the lesson plan for
tonight. Carol, who was going to lead, is one of those not
feeling well – the doctor suggested she should stay home. So now
I’ll be leading the lesson tonight – really appreciate your
prayers on that!
Next Friday those of us in Germany that work with EuroTeam and
their families are taking a drive down to southern France, to
LaPastorale, the camp I’ve been with teams on in the past. We’ll
have two team members from Iowa and one from Manitoba. It will
be a nice change from life in the office and a good time to
spend in a different way with my coworkers. I’m looking forward
to it. We’ll be working on the attic space and some of us may do
some sewing to decorate a bit.
Between now and that trip I need to help with logistics for a
conference in Basel at the end of May. And there’s work to do on
our summer conference as well.
Spring has sprung here – in fact a couple of days ago it was
like summer. Now it’s been raining, so it’s definitely spring –
the blossoms are filling in, and the tulips & daffodils are out.
Well, I need to close for now to get home for a bit before going
to Schliengen for the evening. Thanks for your prayers.
Shirley
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From: Shirley Unger
To: Shirley Unger
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 7:54 AM
Subject: RE: Hi from sunny warm Kandern
Hi there.
Last time I wrote we were having some pretty awesome weather.
About a week later we did get some cooler and rainier days – now
we’re back to some sunshine and fairly nice temperatures.
A couple of weeks ago we were right in between rainy days and
sunny ones. We had a flea market in our parking area to work on
getting rid of some items. The day before was kind of gloomy,
and the day after it poured. But the Lord provided a cool, but
very sunny day to allow us to put things out and enjoy the day.
It was a lot of fun – some junk was sold and a bit of money
earned while we spent the day chatting with neighbours and
fellow missionaries who came by.
This past weekend some of us went to France to take away items
that weren’t sold and that we didn’t really want to hold on to.
I found a couple of items to put in my living room area –
another fun weekend!
On Valentine’s Day a few people from the church in Muellheim
spent some time in Schliengen, giving out roses and chocolate.
One of the ladies in the church has also found a place in the
town to start a moms and kids morning once a week. It’s exciting
to see how different avenues are opening up to reach out to the
people in this area. The English evenings start March 17 and
will go for 6 weeks. There are about 13 people signed up to
come. Thanks for your prayers for this outreach. Pray as we plan
out what we will teach each week, for the workers needed for
both English and the moms’ morning, and for those who will
attend.
Our first team goes out March 14 to work in Athens, Greece. Pray
for my coworkers Kim and Fred as they work with the team from
Texas in renovations on an evangelical church.
I’m spending time on preparations for the next annual conference
for our mission. It involves a little more this year since I’m
the only one from past committees to give input on what needs to
be done. We’re looking at getting someone responsible for the
children’s program, which would help me out tremendously. And
I’m seeking out someone to work with me so I can train them to
take my role in the future. We appreciate your prayers in this.
I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with what’s happening in the
Middle East in the last few months. With our ministries in
“Greater Europe” this truly does impact some of our ministries
and missionaries. We do covet your prayers for this.
And I’d like to share a couple of upcoming prayer initiatives
that you can partner with us in:
***Within the GEM community we have been encouraged to take the
first Monday of each month in prayer and fasting for the
spiritual needs in Europe & greater Europe, as well as for
European believers and those who do ministry throughout the
continent. Would you be willing to join with us in spending time
focusing your prayers on these areas each first Monday of the
month?
***GEM is also taking 40 days of prayer during the time of Lent.
This begins March 9. It’s a time to focus some time on praying
for Europe globally. Please join us for the 40 days of Lent in
committing to invest just 40 seconds per day to bring before the
Lord a different European country each day. If you have access
to the internet, I’d encourage you to use this website to guide
you <www.prayeurope.com>.
Otherwise perhaps you could find a map of Europe and pray over a
country per day.
If you’re willing to commit to praying along with us in any of
these areas, I’d love to hear from you. You can drop me a note
by mail, email me at Shirley.Unger@gemission.org, skype me at
shirley.m.unger, or give me a call at 01149 7626 974 570 at the
office or 01149 7631 705 136 at my home. You can also find me on
Facebook.
Thanks again for your partnership in prayer and giving. Feel
free to drop me a note anytime to share what’s happening in your
life and how I can be praying for you.
Shirley
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From: Shirley Unger
To: MEFC
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 2:38 PM
Subject: hi from Shirley
Hi there.
I look forward to being
with you next month for the kid’s program and then for the
morning service. And if folks want to meet for lunch somewhere
after the service, I can chat more informally.
I wanted to thank you as a
church family for your prayers over the years and in the last
few years for your financial partnership. It is a boost to have
this group, as well as others, behind me in my ministry. Thanks
so much.
Tomorrow, October 28,
Greater Europe Mission is taking the day to spend in prayer and
fasting. My home church, Winnipeg EFC, has provided a room for
prayer between 9 and 12 in the morning and between 2 and 5 in
the afternoon for anyone who would like to pray with us. Or
maybe you’d like to take time as a staff, families, individuals
to pray for the continent of Europe. Pray for there to be
spiritual revival and for those who serve to be strengthened in
their ministry to reach Europe for Christ.
Attached (see below)
is a letter from our GEM Canadian leader, Howard Moore. Thanks
for taking the time to read through it.
And if the mission
committee or any families or small groups would like to have me
visit with them to share in a smaller setting, just let me know.
I’ll see how it fits in my schedule.
Thanks again, and I’ll see
you soon!
Shirley Unger
Oshawa, October 2010
Dear friends of Shirley Unger,
Greetings from the office of Greater Europe Mission
in Canada based in Oshawa. It is my privilege to write to you on
behalf of Shirley Unger who has ministered with GEM in Europe
now for 20 years. Both she and I are thankful to God for the
way He has provided partners back in North America who have
prayed for and given financially to her ministry over these
years.
I want to take this moment to thank you for your
faithful participation with Shirley and her ministry. Shirley
has been a faithful worker in various ways over the years
providing needed leadership and coordination for the many short
term ministry teams coming from North America under EuroTeam.
She has also been involved in helping to organize and
coordinate mission-wide events organized each year for our
missionary leaders and workers in Europe. Her faithful service
in these important tasks is deeply appreciated.
On behalf of GEM I can say that it is our prayer that
Shirley will be able to continue to provide this needed
assistance in the years to come. I am writing to ask you to
continue your involvement with Shirley in her ministry through
your prayers and financial support.
Since the last time that Shirley was back in North
America, the cost of living and doing ministry in Europe has
increased. Shirley is back in Canada now not only to report to
you, her present ministry partners about her ministry, but to
share the financial needs of her ministry support and to seek
new ministry partners to join her in providing for her support
needs in the future. She anticipates returning to Germany in
mid-December.
Shirley has a minimum need of $500 in monthly
commitments and extra larger gifts to cover for a shortfall in
her account. Would you consider increasing your monthly gift by
$5, $10 or $20 (or your yearly gift by $50, $100 or $200)?
Every gift, big or small, helps Shirley immensely and is deeply
appreciated. Please feel free to use the accompanying coupon
to indicate your response to this request.
The role of support partners back in North America is
crucial to Shirley’s ministry in Europe. Thank you in advance
for your consideration to my request in this letter. May God
richly bless you as you seek to be faithful in serving Him as
well!
Gratefully in Christ,
Howard Moore
Executive Director
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From: Shirley Unger
To: MEFC
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 3:50 PM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Germany
Greetings to each of you.
My first month in Canada has gone by quickly.
In September we had a good time to celebrate my parents’ 50th
wedding anniversary. It was a nice day, and many friends &
relatives joined us for the afternoon. That same weekend
my home church, Winnipeg EFC, had their mission weekend, so I
was able to share about my ministry.
Early this month I traveled to Gladstone, Manitoba for a couple
of days to share there. It was a nice drive and I enjoyed
my time with the folks there.
Tonight I’m flying to Calgary, Alberta for a week. At
first things were coming together slowly for my time there, but
my schedule has filled out nicely.
As I’m writing this, our EuroTeam leader, Bob Gonzalez and
Jordan Toews, looking to join us soon, have been traveling for a
day to Croatia. They should arrive tomorrow sometime to
lead a team from Ontario in doing construction work at a camp
for a week and then at one of the evangelical churches for the
second week. Please pray for them and the team in their
travels to Croatia and then for their two weeks of ministry.
Pray for their spouses and children back in Alberta, Germany and
Ontario as they are overseas.
The leadership of Greater Europe Mission is setting aside
Thursday, October 28 as a day of prayer & fasting. I
invite you to join us in taking some time that day to pray for
the spiritual needs of Europe. Perhaps you might have a
group of friends or family who would like to get together to
pray sometime that day. If you’d like to participate, drop
me a note and I’ll work on sending you a list of some things to
be in prayer for.
Keep praying with me for those opportunities to come up to share
about my ministry with EuroTeam, with Greater Europe Mission –
for financial & prayer support, for potential teams to serve on
short term projects in 2011 and into the future.
If you would like to know more on contributing to my ministry,
either in prayer or in financial giving, don’t hesitate to email
me.
Thanks for your continued interest in what’s happening in
missions using short term teams.
Shirley Unger
Shirley.Unger@gemission.org
*Looking forward to be with you next month!
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From: Shirley Unger
To: MEFC
Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 12:50 PM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Germany
Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote. I should be finishing my
packing, but I’ll take a moment to catch up a bit.
Matt seems to be doing better. He left last week with his wife
and daughter for a nice vacation, but had a sore throat – we’re
trusting that’s all it was and that they’re able to relax a bit
as a family.
I’ve been working with Bob and his wife Elena over the things
they’ll be taking care of while I’m in Canada. I’m trusting that
works well.
I leave tomorrow morning (Wednesday) from my apartment at about
6 AM to catch my first flight. I fly from Basel to London, then
London to Toronto after a 3 hour layover, and finally Toronto to
Winnipeg after a 4 hour layover. That gets me to Winnipeg around
8:30 PM, and then a drive of about a half hour to my parents’
place.
The schedule for my 3 month stay is filling up, and I’ll be
spending the majority of the time in Manitoba and going west to
Alberta in October.
I’d appreciate your prayers for this time away, that all will go
smoothly in travel from place to place, beginning tomorrow. And
pray for my colleagues here in Germany as they continue to keep
up with our short term team ministries for the rest of this year
and in preparation for 2011.
Shirley
*Looking forward to being with you later this fall.
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|
From:
Shirley Unger
To: MEFC
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 3:54 AM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Germany
Hello
there.
I’ve
been back from conference a week now. Thanks so much for all
your prayers. It was a great time, even for those of us who
were kept busy with our responsibilities. We had a great site
to stay in, and the staff were very accommodating and an
encouragement to all. The speakers were also a great
encouragement, and we spent a lot of time in small groups and in
prayer for Europe, our ministries and our families and
supporters. There was a festival in the town of Wisla itself,
and that was an extra bonus. I’ve never felt so at ease even in
the midst of my responsibilities, and I believe the prayers of
folks like you and others contributed to that. And there’s a
strong possibility we will return to this site for next year.
Wisla is
considered the Bible belt of Poland – it’s in the south-eastern
part very near Czech Republic and Slovakia. We had a local
pastor join us for a day and he also took a group to do some
prayer walking in the area.
Upon my
return I had a visitor from Winnipeg for a couple of days.
Debbie was on a EuroCorp project years ago and contributes to my
support. It was a nice diversion from going back to work and
forced me to take the time off that I needed to. When she left
I took a day of rest and relaxation with a book or two. And
then it was time for catch up – the finances needed to get done,
and I needed to fill out paperwork to renew my residence visa.
Keep
praying for Matt – he is on antibiotics once again. Part way
through conference he was not feeling well. Fortunately he
hasn’t needed to go back in the hospital. He and his family are
in Budapest at the moment where his wife is doing some training
for working with children with special needs. Pray that he
would be free of this infection once and for all.
With a
prayer, I have another praise. My coworker Bob and his wife and
daughters return to Germany next Friday! Their funds came in
and they’re preparing for their return. Pray for the adjustment
after a year, and pray for our time of overlap before I leave.
Please
keep praying for my other coworker, Nathan, who continues to
seek support and will probably stay with his family in the US a
few more months.
And pray
for our former coworker, Freddie and his wife Kandee as they
come back to Germany at the end of this month to pack things up
and send it to the US. They have a house and a car to sell.
Pray for them as they close this chapter of their lives.
Another former EuroTeam coworker, Vic and his wife Fran are also
preparing to move in the coming months – pray that the Lord
would guide them into what ministry they might have in Europe or
back in the US. And my Muellheim “neighbors” and GEM coworkers
Gordon & Caryl Saunders left this week for Colorado, where they
will continue to serve with GEM being US based. Pray for their
adjustments after many years of service being based in Europe.
I have
about a month till I leave myself, though mine is just a 3 month
time. With our office now being in Kandern it is difficult to
sublet my place, even for a short time. Pray that finances
would allow me to keep things going here while I’m in Canada.
And pray that my need for up to $1000 more in support per month
would come in quickly during my time away.
Thanks
so much for your prayers and commitment to partnering in this
ministry of reaching Europe for Christ in whatever way you can.
Shirley
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From: SUnger
To: MEFC
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 3:17 PM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Germany
Hi there.
Thanks for your continued prayers for Matt. He is off
antibiotics now, and praying that this time all will be well in
the rest of his recovery. He left today with my other
co-worker, Kim and Kim’s wife Jenny, driving our truck to annual
conference. They left around 5 AM – we’re praying they got
there safely tonight, as they were aiming to travel to
south-western Poland all in one day.
There are leadership meetings
beginning tomorrow at the conference site, so my co-worker Craig
and I will travel by air tomorrow to get things going for that
and for conference. The conference itself begins this
Saturday, July 31. Please be praying for those traveling
in this week, whether they be missionaries or folks coming to
serve our missionaries and their children. We’ll be in
Poland until next Thursday, August 5, when we all head back.
Pray for refreshment and reenergizing during our time together.
The projects that went on
earlier this month went very well, and the sites were encouraged
by the work that was accomplished. Thanks for your
prayers.
My co-worker, Bob and his
wife and daughters are looking forward to returning to Germany
in a few weeks. Pray that the remaining support needed
would come in before they leave. And keep praying for
another co-worker, Nathan and his wife & family, as they still
have support to raise and it looks like they’ll need to stay in
the US a little longer to work on that. They have
teenagers, so it could be a harder transition back if they have
to stay much longer.
My travel date for my
visit to Canada is September 15. Pray for the meetings
that still need to be worked on and for support to come in
quickly so I can return here in mid-December.
Thanks for your prayers
and the notes of encouragement from some – it’s always good to
hear from you. I’ll share more after I return from our
conference.
Shirley
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|
From: SUnger
To: MEFC
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 3:41 PM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Germany
Where has the time
gone? I’ve been meaning to write and catch up for a while now.
Each time I’ve started, either something comes up or it’s
getting late in the evening.
The projects in May all
went well. A lot got done in the sites in France, and our
parking lot looks great. The timing on the parking lot was
perfect – the weather got warm and the city started working in
front of our driveway, often blocking it all together. If we’d
had the project any later, we would have struggled a little more
with the city schedule!
I asked you to pray for
Matt in May. I had planned to write sooner and thank you for
your prayers. Matt was improving for a while. Then he came to
the office Monday to say he had to go in again, as his knee had
infection once again. He’s starting to improve, but he’s still
in the hospital – tomorrow it will have been a week.
This was quite
discouraging for him – not only because of the infection and of
being in the hospital. He and his wife and daughter were to
travel to a camp in Eastern Europe on Thursday last week to lead
a team he had recruited from a supporting church in California.
This also meant we had
to scramble to change supervisors for the project. Another
coworker, Kim, left Friday to fill in. Matt is hoping things
improve that he could still go there, but it’s fairly unlikely.
The good thing in all
of this is that the infection was discovered before Matt started
traveling and not while he was at the camp site.
Pray for the doctors to
figure out what is causing the infection and how to best treat
it – pray for Matt during this difficult time, as well as for
his wife Esther and daughter Leah.
Pray for Kim as he
leads the team at the camp.
We also have a team
from Winnipeg at a site an hour from us at the Christian
elementary school in Guebweiler, France. Phil and Lynda Gibson
are leading that project. Pray for them as they renovate cabins
into classrooms in the heat we’ve been having.
So with a coworker in
the hospital, and the others on projects, I’m once again on my
own. Our short term worker, Anna, flew back to the US this past
week, her three months being over. She was a great help.
The biggest side event
has been keeping up with the World Cup. I’m not usually much of
a sports fan, but it’s been fun watching the games and seeing my
host country do well. And now they’re in the semi-finals!
I’ve been doing a
weekly book study with some coworkers and a few others with the
book “The Tangible Kingdom”. It’s about being incarnational in
your community. Last weekend I went with some coworkers to the
Muellheim city festival, where booths were set up with a variety
of food items. We shared a meal with two German couples from
the community – one of the husbands spoke great English. One of
the ladies, Caron, doesn’t believe there is a god, and her
husband wasn’t sure what to believe. But he was open to discuss
the subject. Pray that other opportunities would present
themselves to meet up with them, as my coworkers will be
returning to the US in August.
As we were enjoying the
meal and conversation, another person came up to us – she was
excited to hear English being spoken. Her husband is British,
and they’ve chosen to live in Germany in their senior years. I
didn’t get their names, but they live in my area. Pray for
times to meet up with each other again.
And I had a short
conversation with my next door neighbor a few days ago – he only
asked if he’d been too noisy the night before, but I hadn’t
really seen who was living there before that. I’ve had times to
meet people who lived there before, but we haven’t bumped into
each other much at all.
So it’s been neat to
see how God has put people in my path recently. As for the book
study, we’ve had to juggle our schedule at times with the world
cup schedule – one week we did the study, then went to places
where we could mingle with the Germans and watch. This coming
week we’ll do the study and then watch, but our leader and his
wife will be cheering for Spain while many of us cheer for
Germany! At least they’re doing it in a missionary home and not
in a group of Germans!
Thanks for praying for
conference workers – we have 5 ladies for the older group, 4
people for the middle group, and 2 for sure for the
babies/toddlers, possibly even 3. A couple of these just joined
this past week, so it’s been neat to see things come together.
We don’t have any volunteers for medical, but we know there are
doctors in the area who can help if needed. I’ll leave for
conference July 28th.
I was able to get away
for a break a couple of times. In May I just went to the Lake
Constance for a couple of days – the weather was poor with cool
temperatures and rain, but it was a break from being on the
computer and being in the office. Two weekends ago I went out
for the day to Titisee with coworkers – again, cool and rainy,
but fun with friends. Then three ladies and I drove to Poland –
a full day’s drive, a day of shopping, and then a full day’s
drive back – for fellowship and Polish pottery. Again, it was
nice to get away from the busyness at the office, even though
the travel was long. Last week I had a short break for lunch to
celebrate a friend’s birthday at a nice rose garden.
I need to start working
on my time in Canada for the fall – I leave September 15 and
Lord willing, I return for December 16. My support level at the
moment is getting close to dangerously low, so I’ll need to work
at support raising. And we need to finalize when we celebrate
my parents’ 50th anniversary in September – I’ll try to help
what I can from here until I get back. Keep praying for my
coworkers in the US as well, as they hope to return in August
but still need more support to do that.
Thanks for your prayers
and continued interest. I trust those in the US have enjoyed
the 4th of July, and those in Canada had a nice day on the 1st
of July.
Shirley
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From: SUnger
To: MEFC
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 3:39 PM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Germany
Hi there.
We have 3 projects going on right now through EuroTeam. We have
a team of 13 in southern France in their second week of work,
working on the attic area at the LaPastorale camp so the camp
director and his wife have a place to move into onsite. They had
rainy weather last week, but the team seems to be working well –
they’re from Alberta, California, Iowa and Minnesota. Today my
co-worker Kim said the sun finally came out, so that was a
praise.The second
team is here in Kandern, working on the parking lot. We have a
contractor, Thomas, from the Landau church in Germany that we’ve
helped in the past, four people from Ontario, one from Texas and
another from England on the project. The four from Ontario were
in Cologne last week, prayer walking through areas that the GEM
missionaries are desiring to do evangelism in. This week they’re
all helping with spreading the small stones and smoothing things
so we can put the pavers in next week. It’s not ideal weather
here, but the rain is keeping away during the work day which
helps.
The third team is in the
Lille, France area in the northern part of France. It’s a group
of six, mainly from Iowa doing construction on the evangelical
church in Croix. Another group is also there doing evangelistic
work while they’re doing labor. They just started today and will
work for this whole week.
Please pray with me for these teams – for safety, for unity
within the teams, for health – some on the team at the camp were
dealing with the flu, and my co-worker, Craig, who is
supervising in northern France, is working to recover from a bad
cold – I talked to him today, and he had a touch of laryngitis.
Pray also for the sites, that they will be encouraged and
blessed by the work being done and also be an encouragement to
the teams.
Today we had a rough start to our week at the office. My
co-worker, Matt, came in after seeing the doctor. He had knee
surgery about three & a half weeks ago. Last week he was also
dealing with a bad cold that wouldn’t go away due to working too
hard and being out in the cool damp weather. His knee has been
hurting more recently, so he saw the doctor – the doctor told
him there was probably an infection in his knee as a result of
his being ill with the cold. His wife, Esther, was at another
doctor for herself, and upon going home, had to find someone to
watch their daughter Leah (almost 2 years old) while she took
Matt to the hospital. I think they have to open up the knee
again and work on it, and he needs to stay in for a few days.
Fortunately, Esther is from Holland, so her mom is going to
travel over to help out. Please pray for this family, especially
for Matt, as this is a setback for him, and he was also
overseeing the parking lot project at our office. Again, we’re
very fortunate that there are others who can fill the gaps that
are at the office and can take a break to help with translation
work or helping the team with the labor.
Pray for Anna and me as well, as this means we’re the only ones
at the office right now for EuroTeam to take care of things.
Everyone else is either raising support, leading a team, or now,
in the hospital. It’s a little overwhelming at times to keep up
with things, yet I feel your prayers and know God is walking us
all through these things.
On a different note, I went to the elementary school choir
program yesterday afternoon. It made me think of the days when I
was teaching children that age. Yet it didn’t necessarily make
me think I was missing out or in the wrong ministry. I enjoyed
thinking back, but knowing I’m where God wants me to be, even in
the midst of the days of difficulty at times.
Shirley
*Keep praying too for children’s workers and possible doctors
for our annual conference – I now have seven people for the
children, which is a start but not nearly enough for over 40
kids.
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From: SUnger
To: MEFC
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 4:10 PM
Subject: FW: Greetings from Germany
Greetings from Germany!
I trust you’re all enjoying a lovely spring. We’re having a good
one here, enjoying the sunshine and the different blossoms.
They’re not quite as full as some years, still pretty.
This morning we had baptism at Black Forest Christian
Fellowship. It’s always encouraging to see young people take
this step – the youngest ones were in 4th grade. And the added
blessing was having an adult in the community who became a
believer in February take part in this. God is at work!
And then we had what the
pastor called an accordion message – share a bit in the time
left. A visiting pastor who’s been in ministry for 50 years
shared with us. And in just a few minutes he hit on some
important things, reminding us that if we’re at the point that
we say we can’t do something because it’s too much, we’re at the
right point. It’s the point when we say, “Lord, please take this
for me because I am not able to.” What a great reminder that God
is waiting for us to say we can’t do it alone. So often I try to
do things on my own strength, when God is waiting to take the
load for me.
The past few weeks have had some challenging times. We had a
coworker resign from our ministry, we had to trust on the Lord’s
plans rather than our own waiting for a team to arrive due to
the volcano in Iceland affecting air travel in Europe, and
another coworker is recovering from knee surgery. And our
coworkers presently in the US are struggling to raise the needed
funds to return to ministry this summer.
Fortunately the team was only delayed by two days and have
started on the work of digging things up and taking things apart
in preparation for putting in a parking area at our office. And
Matt, the one who had knee surgery, is recovering well. He won’t
be able to work much, but he’ll make a great supervisor – sit
and direct! And Anna, the gal who has come to help for three
months, has done a lot to help with so many things at the
office. That’s been a boost for me. It’s hard to believe she’s
been here almost a month already – she’s done many things that
would have taken me months to get through!
We have three projects going on in May. One is to southern
France, to the LaPastorale camp that I’ve helped at a couple of
times in the past. It’s a mixed team of twelve people from all
over the US and we also have a couple, Jordan & Sharon Toews,
participating from Alberta. They’re looking into joining
EuroTeam at some point, so this is a time to check things out
for us and them.
While this project is
going on we have a team of four going to Cologne for one week
with Phil Gibson, a Canadian GEM board member and associate with
EuroTeam. They’ll be doing a lot of prayer walking in the area.
After their week in Cologne they’re coming to Kandern to help
with the parking lot work at the office. Phil’s wife Lynda will
join them in Kandern. We also have a gal coming for two weeks
and a couple coming to help for a month. The parking lot work
will continue once this team leaves, with those of us at the
office helping as we’re able to. Both of these projects take
place May 8-22. Then May 14-24 there’s a team in an area
of Lille – part of the team will do outreach, and the other part
will be led by EuroTeam to do construction work on the church.
So there’s a lot to pray
for as a variety of work is going on in France & Germany next
month.
Another thing that has been challenging is preparing for our
annual conference in Poland this summer. Please pray as we
finalize someone to lead worship, and as we look for childcare
workers & teams to do some kind of kid’s program for our kids
age 8-12 and helpers for age 4-7. I also found out this week
that we’re in need of some doctors who can volunteer some time.
Would you pray for us as we work with these needs? Maybe you’d
even consider coming over to help out, or can mention our need
to folks in your church or in your other Christian circles. The
dates of our conference are July 31-August 5. I can send other
details if anyone shows interest.
Thanks for your prayers and caring about the ministry of
EuroTeam.
Shirley
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From: SUnger
To: MEFC
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 4:59 PM
Subject: RE: Greetings from Shirley in Germany
Greetings to each of you. It’s getting late, but I thought
I’d send a quick note.
The book fare was fun, as well as the time we had together as a
GEM family with those who are in this area. We were saying
goodbye to a family that has decided to return to the US.
Tomorrow their container arrives and gets packed to travel back
to the US. They will stay a few more weeks to get painting
& cleaning done in the apartment and finish up some ministry
things. Next month we’ll go through this again as another
couple returns to the US, so I have another farewell event to
plan for.
But we also have a praise, as a co-worker is in flight to return
to the field after having to extend his home assignment a couple
of times. As we say goodbye to some, we say welcome back
to others.
Tomorrow begins the busy days ahead for the Candlelight outreach
in Kandern. Pray for each volunteer, whether part of the program
or helping more behind the scenes, like me. I’m helping
with decorating tomorrow, then helping serve Friday, and then
return Saturday to set up for the second night. Somewhere
along the line I also need to fit in time to make a couple of
salads – the German people love the different types of salads
North Americans make, so we provide them each year at this
outreach. There will be many others with just as busy a
schedule. Pray for health, strength and being blessed in
serving. Pray for those bringing their neighbours,
friends, landlords, acquaintances, and pray that many will open
their hearts to hear the true message of God’s love. Some
of these people come every year – perhaps this will be the year
that the seeds will sprout forth! Others are coming for
the first time, so the seeds may be started for them.
I’ve had a good week otherwise. Driving home one day I saw
the nearby Alps quite clearly. Another day it rained, and
a beautiful full rainbow shone through. Later that night,
after Bible study, I came home to a clear evening with the moon
shining brightly and the stars giving off their light as well.
Monday I spent my day with the Lord, ending the time enjoying
the beautiful sunshine. God is so good to show us his
creation in so many ways! It’s often hard to understand
how anyone can say that all this just evolved rather than
realizing that there is a loving Creator behind it all!
I was doing a lot of reading on Monday and came across a great
quote by Walter Wink in a book by Philip Yancey: “If Jesus had
never lived, we would not have been able to invent him.”
Then in a John Piper book I read, “God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in him.” And Charles Colson
said, “It’s not what we do that matters, but what a sovereign
God chooses to do through us.” A lot of things to digest –
God is so good, and I have a lot to learn in my journey with
him.
Keep in touch!
Shirley
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