Back in Germany and Emma Grace

Leipzig 

Yes! We are back in Leipzig! It is so good to be home. We have reconnected with people every day, had youth group twice, and been to church twice! I am reminded again about how blessed we are to be here and with all the incredible relationships! 

Recent Game Night at Youth Group

Ukraine

Josiah Venture is very immersed in helping with the refugee situation. As of Saturday, March 26, Josiah Venture has sent 38 buses into Ukraine with over 92 tons of food, medical, and various supplies. The food brought and transported provided over 245,000 meals. Once the buses arrived, they are unloaded and returned, filled with refugees. We have five hubs where over 1,600 women and children have entered, been cared for, and are being placed in semi-permanent locations.
Since being back, Jim has driven almost 600 km helping move Ukrainian Refugees. There are many refugees here in Leipzig and we look forward to getting to meet some of them. 

At this moment, Josiah Venture has distributed over 65,000 printed booklets called "22 Days of Encouragement in Difficult Times" to Ukrainians. Every Psalm has a title at the top (such as "Hope") and an intro paragraph to prepare them for the Psalm. Pray that God's Word would speak powerfully to each soul who reads it. 

Summer Interns

We are also very excited that we will have 5 interns coming to help with camps this summer! Please pray that God will provide all the financial and prayer support they need to minister this summer, and that God will use them in a mighty way. 

They will arrive May 25 and after a week of training in the Czech Republic, will be with us until August 17. 

Emma Grace

I know that many of you have been praying for our precious granddaughter, Emma Grace. Here is the latest update from yesterday (March 28) from her mom, Caitlin: 

"Emma had her next procedure. She just came out of the operating room and is in recovery here. We are getting ready to move her to a room for over night. We are being told that we will most likely be able to go home tomorrow!

"Her procedure told us that she has still a very severe case, but we are attacking it head on. She doesn't have a large main pulmonary vein on her right side (since it detached) but there are two smaller ones that are trying to keep up. One of the smaller veins was open while the other was not, so a stent was placed in the unopen one to help it. So now Emma has two stents, one on each side of her heart. We are still praying for a miracle for her to keep her veins going." 

Please continue to pray for Emma, as the next few weeks and months are critical.

Emma after returning to her hospital room after the procedure.

Pray

Here are some prayer points:

1. Continue to pray for Emma, that her blood vessels will grow strong, open, and flexible and stay attached to her heart.
2. Pray for us as we continue to reconnect with people and our ministry here in Germany.
3. Pray for our 5 Summer Interns, that they will raise all the support they need to come help with camp ministries this summer.
4. Pray for the people of Ukraine, that God will protect them, that Believers will be strong be witnesses, and that the war will end.

Back in Europe

 Our one year out of Germany is almost finished! We are spending the last 2 weeks in the Czech Republic. Over and over again during this year, we have seen God's perfect timing. We would plan something, and our plans would be blown away, yet when the dust settled, we always saw God's hand leading us to the right place in exactly the right time. Even coming back to Czech. We had no idea when we planned coming back at this time that Josiah Venture would be receiving refugees from Ukraine and that we would be able to help in this.

Please, pray for all the refugees from Ukraine, for all their family members staying behind to fight for their country, and that God will protect Ukraine and keep it free from oppression.

Ukrainian Refugees on Bus

Coming back to Europe also means leaving family and loved ones in the US and Bangladesh. What an incredible gift from God that we were able to spend so much time with both of our grandchildren.

Noah watching TV with Daddy.

Emma Catching up on her reading in the hospital

Please, continue to pray for our little Emma Grace. She is 11 months old now and weighs 15 lbs.! What a blessing to see her grow. She is still on oxygen and a feeding tube. Pray for her heart, as the blood vessels attached to the heart are very fragile. Pray that they will strengthen and stay strongly attached. She had a stent put into one of the vessels last month and that has vastly improved her oxygen levels. We are so thankful for the good medical and therapy care that she is receiving.

We will be able to return to Germany on March 16! We are so excited to continue ministry in person, rather than on zoom. We already have two retreats planned with two of our youth groups over the next few weeks.

We are also gearing up for summer camps. We have 5 interns coming to help us out. Pray for them as they raise their support over the next few months.

We are so thankful to God for each one of you and that we had the opportunity to see so many of you in person over this last year. So many of you hosted us and provided things that we needed during our time there, including letting us borrow your autos! We are so thankful for the family of God all over the world.

Kimberlee Cather and her husband Doug open their home to us for the entire time we were in Colorado. Here is "Auntie Kimba" holding Emma Grace with Nate and Caitlin.