Birthday celebration

Thanks to all of you who prayed for Seth's birthday! The day before Seth had a bunch of guys that got together and played various sports including American Football. He was very excited to keep up the tradition of playing for his birthday even when he is in a group where only one other person had any idea what the rules were for the game. We had a great day and were blessed with a day spent with many friends. I didn't officially count but we must have had 50 people in our home throughout the day. At one point we had over 25 in our living room which was a little much but then as more people came we moved half of the party outside to play games. It was great fun. The one thing that was a little difficult is that we had church at 5pm. Many of the people that were there normally go to the same church as us so they came along but then there were some that normally don't come but since everyone else was going them came too. This included two guys that we had met through German class. I believe it was both of their first times in a church. I got the opportunity to talk with one afterwards and he had lots of questions about what we believe and what the difference is between us and the catholic church. We had a really good discussion. Please pray that God provides more opportunities! After church about 15 people came over and we played card games together. A guy that Seth had met through basketball ended up coming even though we hadn't seen him since before the summer. He played for a while and then sat and talked with two other guys for two hours about God. Both of the guys got to share their testimonies. One thing is for sure, God had bigger plans for Seth's birthday than I did. I am excited to see how God continues to use us and those around us.

In the Lernhilfe (tutoring program) we had two more students register this week and last week we had a new helper volunteer. We really have been blessed but please continue to pray that more kids come! On Friday the middle school youth group had a city game that began at the Lighthouse and they invited all of the kids from the Lernhilfe as well to join. Four kids ended up joining and had a great time. It was counselor hunt in the old city. So there were lots of leaders dressed up running around the old city that the kids were supposed to find. Seth dressed up but I went with a group of the younger kids so nobody would get lost. We had a great time and my team even won!

Thanks also for the prayers for Dave he is feeling much better and has been back to his normal activities this week! Some prayer requests: Continued guidance on where we would want to have the baby. We have a tentative plan and are touring the place next week. With this place we would also need to find a different doctor because ours will not come here and deliver (or we could just take whoever is on call), so pray for wisdom with that. Also this Saturday evening we have small groups and since the main female leader is gone for the youth group, I will be leading. I am going to do it as a team with a youth and we are going to try to lead all in German. So please pray for wisdom and that God will really bless us especially me with understanding and being able to communicate in German. Also this next week a youth girl that moved away a couple months ago will be here visiting for the week. I have been meeting with her weekly for a few months now and since she moved it has been over skype. She is wanting to spend a lot of time together since all her friends will be in school during the day so please pray for the time that I will have with her! Thank you all for your prayers and keeping up to date!

Alyssa