As I mentioned a month ago, we'll be adjusting our newsletter templates to hopefully make them more "fool-proof" (today's email clients are pretty foolish!). I can't say that "I've arrived" with this design, but it's robbed my time enough for today that I'm ready to simply write some and get it out! ;-)

February finished with such a flourish that I'm holding on to it for March Momentum. I'll let the feedback from last month's requests explain...

Our 12-hour worship celebration capped off the month on the 27th of February when we sang and danced before the Lord from 11am to 11pm. Since the day we chose for our "tabernacle of worship" fell on the date of the Jewish festival of Purim, we, as a church, studied the story of Esther in the Bible (where this festival has its origin) to help guide our time. Angela, Olivia and I were all involved in some of the worship leading. Angela directed the decoration efforts which included different themed "stations" where one could meditate in specific ways. I also was in charge of the technical side of things (sound, words, recording). It was a challenging and tiring but very rewarding effort that we believe was quite important in the activities into which the Lord is leading our congregation. Angela will undoubtedly write more about it. You can check out photos and videos of the time in our gallery.

This also capped off Angela's monastic month where she swore off sweets and sleeping-in to focus on God and what He's saying to her right now. It was a very profitable time for her, but I'll not steal her thunder. Thank you so much for lifting her up!

Major progress was made in the project to purchase and renovate our church building to house diverse Kingdom projects. With jack hammers and any other number of tools, a small open vertical shaft was made from the basement to the attic of the building (4 floors). This was important because the first activity in the renovation is the installation of an elevator. We feel this is significant, in that our desire is to join heaven and earth in practical ways and to make the Kingdom accessible. The elevator reminds me of the dream of Jacob in the Bible of the angels ascending and descending to carry out the Lord's plans and purposes. In the near term, this allows us to have an accurate estimate on the cost of the elevator since the companies will now actually know what opening the entire shaft will entail. The brochure has also been made to announce the project and seek funding from donors. The image at the left shows the new logo and a picture of our building with the vineyards of Guebwiller behind it.

The progress of this building project has come to a point where our pastor's wife can turn over the leadership to others and now she can concentrate more on the establishment of the language school. Unfortunately, it was not the only thing she's been working on and in March she will be gone for three weeks in Mexico. So, we are still in need of more forward progress on this front. This is becoming critical.

A meeting was held in February where everyone could give their feedback on the progress of the high school so far this year and their opinions about whether to add the next year in the education cycle in September or to continue to concentrate on how to make things better with just a single year of high school. I don't believe that a decision has yet been made. Still a matter of prayer.

• Priming the pumps - In February, 3 leaders from our church spent 2 weeks in Redding, California visiting Bethel Church to connect more deeply with this ministry. In March, a dozen or so people from our church, including the pastoral couple and other leaders, will spend 3 weeks attending the "Master Builder" course at the Comunidad Cristiana Internacional in Monterrey, Mexico. In April, others may go to Bethel and Angela and I will be attending a conference in Germany with Bethel's Pastor, Bill Johnson. This is a time of drinking deeply at different "wells" where God is moving in concrete, society-changing ways. This is what we want for our region, so that our region can be blessed to be a blessing. Please pray for strong connections with the right people that will enrich us (and them) so that we grow in our ability to impact our world.

• Hosting! - Right at this moment, we're hosting a wonderful young German lady in our home for a week. She is here on a 6-week internship to learn about Christian Education for her university studies. Next week is the annual visit of American high school students from Illinois. We're not as involved this year but we will be doing some things with them. We will be hosting a lady from Paris one weekend as she comes to visit the school to see if it's the right place for her son. Then we will host a young English lady for several days who is on a "reconnaissance" visit before she comes to do a year-long internship here next year. These are enriching times for us and we are glad to be able to facilitate the visits of those who desire to drink of these "wells" here also. They, of course, can be tiring, especially for Angela as she does most of the work. Please pray for her strength during these times and for good relational connections that will grow for the future. Pray also for our family of faith here as we know that these visits will only increase and we need a team in place for logistics and hospitality.

• Teaching! - This month, Angela will be a substitute English teacher in the elementary school for one of the teachers who is going to Mexico. Please pray for her energy levels and teaching inspiration. It's normally a joy for her, but these kids can be a handful sometimes.

• Worship! - Some of the worship team leaders will also be going to Mexico. So, this month could be particularly interesting with respect to Sunday worship and technical responsibilities. Please pray for the smooth coordination of the remaining "skeleton crew" and endurance for increased levels of responsibility for us in this area this month.

• Summer planning - Noah is home for his spring break towards the end of March and we hope to spend some time finalizing details of how he will spend his summer...hopefully in the States. This will take a fair amount of coordination and, of course, finances. Please pray for clarity and provision for Noah's summer plans. We believe this could be a key summer for him with respect to his university education direction.

Marching with momentum!
David