| Greenhouse Clippings
Fall 2008 |
|
 The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Proverbs
21:1 |
|
Greetings
from an already brisk and chilly Berlin! We have much for which
to be thankful and lots of news to share with you, so please, read on...
|
|
"Miracle" on the Homefront... |
(Cary) Many of you have been praying about our
schooling situation here, and we can't thank you enough for your
faithfulness in that. As we explained in previous emails,
early this past summer we received a letter that a new law
requires four-year-olds who aren't fluent in German to attend
state-run preschools in order to get their language skills up to speed
before starting school. The tone of the letter was ironclad and
left us little hope of being allowed to do anything differently.
But after praying much about it and receiving lots of counsel from
others, we decided to "beard the lion in its den" and ask up
front to be allowed to teach our son Joseph at home this
year. And God, Who is more than faithful, "turned the king's
heart," and last week we received a letter granting us that
permission! My ministry partner, Dieter Borchmann, himself a
German, said that this is nothing short of a miracle!
However, this doesn't mean that
we're out of the woods long-term with our schooling situation.
There are foreseeable bumps all along the road, and probably some
other unforseeable ones as well. But it does mean that for
now the LORD has sovereignly kept the door open for us to stay in this
country and continue to teach our children at home. And for that
we praise Him! THANK YOU once again for praying with us.
|
|
New Beginnings at the EBTC... |
 (Cary)
Every September brings a new crop of students to
the EBTC. And that means that there are some new
faces among the familiar ones grouped around the table in my theology
class. It's always good to interact with these men and to watch
them learn and grow as they study the various areas of theology.
This year for the first time we have two
different theology tracks running, so I'll be teaching twice as much
during our EBTC weekends. This month I taught Prolegomena to one
class, and Anthropolgy to the other. Please pray for these men to be changed as they study God's Word! Our
goal for them is that they go back to their home churches,
where many of them are already involved in ministry, with a much
clearer understanding of biblical theology, so that they can teach it
to their people in turn. (2 Tim. 2:2) |
|
Never a Dull Moment... |
(Cary) The church-plant, Bibelgemeinde Berlin,
continues to bring us so much joy and fulfillment! We love being
here in the ministry and watching God save and change
people. It's so rewarding to see their relationship
with the  LORD
grow, and then to watch them go and share the Gospel with others.
In our last newsletter we asked you to pray for Simone, a young woman
who came to us as a result of a tract left in her
mailbox. Well, Simone just got baptised!
And along
with her was another lady, Barbara, who stopped in at the
coffeeshop one day, just out of curiosity, and then came back  regularly to Bible study and church, bringing her husband and grown daughter
with her. After several months of hearing the Word, Barbara
has gotten saved. At her baptism, she gave a clear testimony of
God's work in her life and hopes that her husband and daughter, who
were both present, will soon join her in "the way of God."
The
third candidate for baptism was a young man by the name of
Thomas. Unlike Simone and Barbara, Thomas grew up in a Christian
home, and he started attending the Bibelgemeinde this past  summer
when he moved to Berlin. It's been a real joy to see
his teachable spirit and his insatiable desire to learn more and
more of God's Word.
And a new development for the ministry here is that Grace To
You (John MacArthur's radio ministry) has asked Dieter to be the German
voice of John MacArthur. So he just started preaching one of
MacArthur's sermon series--in German! Those messages are then
recorded and will be available on the internet. |
|
Featured Sapling |
(Lois)
Unlike her Mama, Esht� has a very definite green thumb. This
summer she planted a pumpkin patch which did very well. And she
has sometimes revived plants I had given up for dead. All she
does is put them in the sun, water them, and love them. (Maybe I
should try that!) And when she isn't gardening, she's cooking,
baking, sewing, painting, or--her favorite hobby--reading! She's
reading straight through her Bible for the second time now, and she and
Bijou just got promoted from being Sunday School helpers to being
Sunday School teachers. :-)
Esht�
told a funny tale on herself the other day. She and Bijou were
babysitting the rest of their siblings while Cary and I were out, and
Esht� was leading family devotions after dinner. She fancied she
was doing quite a good job, explaining and applying the passage, until
Joseph (4) burst her bubble by leaning over to Buddy and asking in a
loud stage whisper, "Bou, what is she talking about?"
We
thank God for "Daisy," our oldest daughter. We love her bright,
sparkly personality and her heart which truly longs to serve her Lord
and Savior! |
|
Kids' Quotes |
 Jonathan (6 at the time): Mama, what's for dessert?
Hard-hearted Mama: We don't generally have dessert when we eat waffles for dinner.
Big Kids: (surveying the condiments on the table)
Oh, but look at all the vegetables we had! Cocoa beans [in the Nutella, a chocolate-hazelnut spread], and nuts [also in the Nutella], and...and...tree sap [maple syrup]!
 Esht� (15): Jonathan, what are you doing?
Jonathan (6): [calmly] Killing fruitflies.
Esht� [horrified]: Right next to the fruit bowl?
Jonathan: Oh, it's all right. I don't kill them on the apples. I just hit the apples with the fly swatter, and when they fly up, then I kill them.
Abby (3) [singing "Baa, baa, black sheep"] One for my  master, and one for my dame. And one for the little boy who lives down the drain...
Abby (3) [sweetly, as she opened a door wide for her seven-month-pregnant Mama] There you go, big fat Mama! |
|
Thank you all! |
Thank
you once again for praying for us so faithfully and fervently, and for
giving so generously to meet our daily needs. We count it a
blessing to know each one of you! May God richly bless you as you serve Him each day.
In His Service,
Cary & Lois for the Greenhouse:
Esht� (15), Bijou (14), Buddy (12), L'Abri (11), Joshua (9),
Josiah (8), Jonathan (7), Joseph (4), Abby (3), Ruthie (19
mo.), and Baby (due Nov. 21).
|
|
Contact Info |
Email: greenquiver@gmail.com
Phone: 011-49-30-914-22-404 (as dialled from the USA)
Please send personal mail to: Eichenstr. 55, 13156 Berlin, GERMANY
Please send financial support to: Cary & Lois Green c/o GMI, 13248 Roscoe Blvd., Sun Valley, CA 91352
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
