First Elders Ordained
Last Sunday was a very special day for us at Cornerstone (Eckstein-Gemeinde Berlin, EGB). We have been meeting for just over a year. October 29th marked a historical day for us, our first elders were ordained! Our son-in-law Marco Bartholomä, fellow church planter Nick Kalena and Christian were ordained as elders at the EGB here in Berlin. It was such a joyous occasion to celebrate what God is doing here and in partnership with our sending church, the Evangeliums Christen Gemeinde, Grace Community Church, Hope and Light church in Switzerland, as well as other churches supporting the Eckstein church plant. We have already seen growth and maturity in the last year that we have been meeting. We praise God for what He has done here in Berlin!
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Below is a picture of Pastor Johann (of the ECG) addressing the new elders and their wives.
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This past Sunday we officially welcomed our first members at the EGB. These new members have been faithfully attending, serving and praying along side the leadership since the beginning and some have joined in one by one, as the year went by.
Here is one example of how God is growing our church: below is a picture of the Madreiters, a young couple who also just became members on Sunday. Both attended the EBTC at different times and decided to moved from Austria to Berlin shortly after being married, to be under solid godly leadership in order to grow, be part of and serve at the EGB.
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Another big event that just took place was the annual The Master's Academy International (TMAI) summit in Europe. This year the EBTC hosted the summit in our home town, Berlin. 19 countries were in attendance! It was a very fruitful time to encourage one another with sweet fellowship, strategic planning for Europe specifically and to develop new training centers and strengthen the existing ones.
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Directly following the TMAI summit we were able to host a day conference, The Christian in the Workspace, with Mark Tatlock, Eric Weathers, Nick Kalena and others from the EBTC. Two years ago we hosted this and there were 40 attendees, this time 80 people were in attendance. It is truly exciting to see this growth and receive the feedback from people who attended and were encouraged by this conference.
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Last week Christian and Marco were in Finland teaching in Helsinki and Tampere. Relationships formed at our Reformation Conference hosted in Wittenberg this past May, resulted in a teaching opportunity and a possible partnership in ministry.
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backing up a little bit...
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This past September, Sheryl, Katrina, Daniel, Stephanie and Emy headed to the USA to attend a long time family friend, Stephanie Armstrong's wedding to Jesse. During this time they were also able to see Philip for the first time since he was deployed and returned in May. Please keep Philip in your prayers. He has re-enlisted, a decision he made after his deployment. We are so proud of him and also always aware that he is in God's hands.
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Elisabeth (21) moved down to Bavaria just about two months ago to start her Hotel Management Training at the Steigenberger Akademie. It was hard for us to say goodbye, but we are so thankful she is there and is loving every moment of it. She is learning French, taking business classes and lots of new cooking and kitchen training at the moment.
Please keep Elisabeth in your prayers.
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Daniel, Stephanie, Philip and Emy at the wedding in CA. Elisabeth in her cooking gear at Steigenberger & with Sheryl and Katrina below & her class below (she is very front 2nd from the right)
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Looking forward
The EBTC school year started two months ago. Please pray for lots of wisdom as we teach and disciple this new group of students attending the EBTC. Each year there are students in each department going through rough situations spiritually, in their churches or personally. Many, if not most, of our biblical counseling students are in need counseling and that is why they signed up for the counseling classes. We are always in need of some extra man power, wisdom and much prayer!
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Please pray specifically:
- The EBTC extension in Vienna, Austria. we are experiencing strong opposition from other Austrian christian groups.
- Please pray for our new publishing ministry.
- Pray for our personal financial support. As the ministry has expanded, our traveling and ministry expenses have grown, so we are in need of further support.
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Thank you for your faithfulness in supporting the ministry here and our family.
Christian & Sheryl Andresen
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For any financial contributions for the EBTC or Christian & Sheryl, please direct to GMI 13248 Roscoe Blvd. Sun Valley, CA 19352 USA
https://www.gracechurch.org/andresen |
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