"For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." We wish you a very blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Love,

Doug and Jan

Katie and Nicholas, Ryan and Johanna

Even more "Typical" stuff

One of the cool things about living in central Europe is the plethora of old Baroque churches one may step inside of, and be awed by the paintings and reverence displayed by those who go in and out of each church. It is even cooler when one is able to do something like sing in one of these churches. Katie and Nicholas are members of their high school choir at Vienna Christian. The choir recently had the privilege to present their Christmas concert at St. Peter's Church in downtown Vienna. Not a bad place to have a concert and sing.

More typical

Another "typical" privilege we have is hosting guests. We were so happy to welcome friends from Germany, Albania, and Montenegro and share memories, laughter, prayers, and ministry together. It is a privilege to have guests and extend hospitality to them.

Daily schedule

Quite often we are asked to submit our schedule of a typical day or workweek on our mission field. When we receive requests we just kind of shake our heads and try to figure out what to put down on paper that will make sense to a reader far away from where we live. There are no typical days in our lives, at least they don't seem very typical. One example: when I was in Podgorica, Darko, the leader for CEF Serbia also joined Miruska and me. Darko and I spent time unloading a container of Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes and installing Miruska's kitchen! Not exactly typical for one's weekly schedule but certainly typical for us and the many and varied things God asks us to do in this work of being a light and life of our Saviour.

Mega-Church in MNE

It was a unique moment, for me anyway, being a part of a special church service in Podgorica. I was in a "Mega-Church," Montenegrin style. Some 45-50 people gathered on Sunday evening for the weekly service of one of the 2 churches in Podgorica. This number represents nearly 1/2 of all the known followers of the Lord Jesus in the country. It was a great evening singing praises together, listening to His word, and then listening and observing as a couple of people requested a few minutes time to confess sin and ask forgiveness of the local body. Continue to pray for the Church in Montenegro. It is small but loves our Lord. It is new and ripe for attack by the liar and destroyer. They are encouraged by your prayers.

How excellent it is that God gives Jan the privilege to share His Hope with students from around the world. These are some of her students that she tutors twice weekly at our kids' school: Vienna Christian School, an American international Christian school based in Vienna. Please pray for Jan as she works with these students. Pray for their salvation. Pray for the school administration as it seeks to solve a long running search for visas for the faculty/staff that are not able to receive Austrian residence visas.

Hyperbole Maximus

You probably missed this important fact about the Obama victory that at least one Austrian news magazine has helpfully printed for us: "HOPE FOR THE WORLD: the 'New Kennedy's' and how Barack Obama's Victory will make the World a Better Place!" Excuse me, but that Hope has already been to this planet and He has already done everything necessary to make this world a better place. Yes, the secularized, post-religious world of Euroamerica might believe Mr. Obama is our hope and answer. After all he will undo or "Kill" as another publication here put it, all of the absurd and backwards restrictions upon normal life that President Bush dared to impose upon American society simply to please naieve, backwards, and biggoted religious voters who really are clueless when it comes to the modern (or post-modern) world and the views of said world. How thankful we are that Jesus, Messiah, the Saviour, came to this planet and endured the snide and hurtful comments of the religous and political leaders of His day; He endured the beyond belief torment and torture; and He gave His life as the ultimate sacrifice to become the only point of Hope and Light for this world. How awesome it is that our hope and future is not in a President, a Prime Minister, journalists, a King or Queen, or the other multitudes of gods and goddesses our world has built and worships. When you pray for Mr. and Mrs. Obama, pray too and again for Europe. This is truly a continent and peoples without Hope.