Christmas in Germany

We had a joyous & special Christmas season. Our daughter, Katie, was able to join us for a few weeks. We had a fun time exploring a few things in Germany with her and exposing her to our ministry. She made some new friends -- not surprising with her friendly personality.

We explored some sights with Katie, primarily a lot of castles & Christmas markets. Here are a few that we really enjoyed.

As we approached the Christmas celebration, we planned a fun excursion with folks from the Hospitality House. We took about 20 folks to Rothenburg and Nurenberg for a weekend. Rothenburg is known for being Germany's best-preserved medieval walled town. It has some fun and interesting sights, like the Medieval Crime & Punishment Muserum, a walk along the city wall, and a beautiful Christmas market. Nurenberg is know for its medieval architecture, the biggest Christmas market in Germany, the tiniest bratwurst in Germany and its Nazi past. Folks spent time in the Nazi Documentation Center and explored the Christmas market. It was a fun weekend and we shared our time with the Baumholder Hospitality House as well.

On Christmas Eve, we began our celebration at the Ramstein Comtemporary Service (RCS) for a candlelight worship service. We had a nice dinner at home and had our family Christmas celebration with Katie. Christmas morning began with about 16 singles coming over for brunch. We fixed eggs, pancakes, bacon, all the fixins. Afterwards, they opened their presents. Many came in their pajamas to enjoy the morning. We moved into the afternoon with a Christmas dinner planned at 3:00. We hosted 81 folks as we celebrated the birth of our Lord. We had a time of worship and singing carols, followed by playing games and hanging out! We hope everyone truly felt like they were at home.

We feel like we are settling into life in Germany and a routine with ministry. We are excited to see what God will do in 2010. We continue to work on deeping our relationships with folks that are in our ministry. We hope you and your family had a blessed Christmas.