Home Again

Most of us have been home now for almost a week. I am finally sleeping well and night and getting back into the routine of life in Watertown. I may continue to share stories and pictures from the trip to Germany as well as keep all of you who check this blog updated on our soccer teams in the next couple of months. However, I need to thank a number of people who worked hard to make this trip a success.
Adam Steen - We jokingly called him our team "mom", but I appreciate the many times that he took resposibility to get things done. Furthermore, almost all of the pictures on this blog are from his camera and I used his computer for most of the updates while we were in Germany. I won't tease him anymore about bringing too much stuff.
Dave and Linda Adam - Dave and Linda were with the women's team during the entire time. I appreciate their ownership of the project. I never had to think twice about where the women's team was supposed to be and if they would make it on time.They put up with alot of inconveniences, but their service to the Lord was invaluable.
Jeff Brown - His administration of this effort was outstanding. His heart for the Germany people is incredible and I know that he worked very hard in preparation and in carrying out this project.
Charles Ellis - A big thank-you to "Charlie" for all of his interpreting work at soccer camp and all the work he did to make things in Ingolstadt go smoothly. I greatly appreciated his heart for the members of the men's team.
Oliver Meyer - I am excited for the church at Erlangen as Oliver moves closer to being the full-time national pastor of that congregation. I know that the ladies team grew very close to the members of that church and Oliver was one of the reasons.
Christoff Rutgers - Christoff was a pleasure to minister with in Ingolstadt. He was the right man to lead our men's team in it's ministry. I appreciate his heart for his people and I believe God is blessing his ministry in Ingolstadt.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip.

After a nine-hour flight.




Nurnberg.
More pictures are coming. - C

Day 14

Day 14 was our last full day in Germany. The men spend the night before in the homes of many of the families from the church. They alll greatly enjoyed the time of fellowship. Most of us new the kids from soccer camp and we enjoyed the time with the parents.




Sunday afternoon was a relaxing time. Some of the men went swimming at a nearby lake, some began the process of packing and cleaning our room, some started getting the auditorium ready for World Cup viewing. After the second WC match, Lars took all of us out for ice cream. The church is about 50 meters (as Germans would say) from a great Eis Cafe.



The church was very generous to us during our time in Ingolstadt. One of the gifts that they gave us were German soccer shirts that said "Deutschland Needs Jesus" and then "We'll leave the light on for you" on the sleeve. Here is the whole team with Christoff in the background.


The night before we left Tim and George finally found a friend.

Day 13

Today was the final day of soccer camp. We spent most of the time with contests. After camp, we invited all of the children and their parents back to the church for a BBQ. We also celebrated Trevor Stricklin and Nathan's (a boy from the church) birthdays. A clear gospel presentation again made for all of the kids and Stephen Roby gave his salvation testimony.

Three v three champions!

Steenmatt and the younger kids.

Hole contest.

The whole camp.

Camper of the Week.

Happy Birthday, Trevor!

The squad.

Surprise visit from the women's team!

Day 12

The Freie Baptistengemeinde Church of Ingolstadt.

On Friday we held soccer camp in the morning and then I left Ingolstadt to travel to Erlangen to be with the Maranatha women's team for their match against the University of Erlangen and to watch the opening World Cup match with them. (Germany defeated Costa Rica for those of you who care about such things.) It was great to see the ladies, they did not know I was coming. They lost their match 3-1, but that is not important to their mission. They would have like to have played better, but this university has won the European university championship for several years! The ladies have done a fantastic job with Jeff Brown in Erlangen. I heard many good things about how hard they have worked in his ministry there. I want to thank Christoff Ruttgers and Jeff for working out all of the details for my travel on the train. They put me on a train that travels almost 300 km per hour!

Sean O'Morrow's flip-throw has been a great hit everywhere we have gone. Several visitors showed up to camp today in order to see it.

Back in Ingolstadt, the men's team passed out over 1000 Bridge tracts before the Germany match and then quite a few World Cup tracts after the match.

Day 11

Today we held soccer camp as usual. This picture is of a girl named Lilly who is not from the church, but has come to soccer camp every day.

That evening we entered two teams in 6v6 tournament put on by the church. Many unsaved were in attendance and heard a gospel presentation at the end of the evening. Maranatha Blue won the event on a late goal by Stephen Roby against Maranatha Gold.