February 21′ Family Update

Ministry 

Anja

Livestream

A couple of weeks ago, we received a new “apprenctice”. She is on our second camera and is doing quite well. I really don’t know her yet, but she seems to be rather quiet and shy. I have been on the camera once a week and doing the lyrics once a week. I would like to learn more about doing the sound, but the time you prepare all the settings is the time I have to take care of Ziva before the service, which makes it a bit difficult. At first, I thought, I might be able to do it on Wednesdays because it looked like one of the light masters would be able to do the lights for Chris every Wednesday so he could have taken care of Ziva then. However, that light master’s school schedule got changed and he is now not able to attend on Wednesdays anymore…

Escuela de Alabanza (School of Worship)

We finished the Escuela de Alabanza with all of the participants having to perform from stage and the teachers judging our performance. We, as singers, were asked to go up to sing solo, but also as alto and tenor. Needless to say that I was not that good at singing tenor, I just can’t sing that high. However, the teachers were quite happy with me and would like me to become a part of the worship team. As a consequence, I was asked to attend a couple of their band practices on Saturday evening. It is their policy that you have to attend the practices before you can be on stage. I have been through a similar process with ICF (International Christian Fellowship, the biggest church in Switzerland with several church plants in Switzerland and abroad), so this is not new to me. I think they do it to see if you are willing to commit, even if you cannot be on stage yet. I really don’t mind. I am usually watching them with Ziva anyways.

Chris

After nearly two month of waiting, our new moving heads finally arrived. But not just any moving heads. These are special. Not only do they have a decent light, but they are also focusable. I searched for some time for a replacement spot for our dying front lights (which are focusable), but could not find any good ones besides the very expensive ones. The new moving heads had been shipped from China, which is why it took so long for them to arrive. But knowing the ins and outs of Chinese lights a bit, I knew what to expect. However, they are here now and they are doing a good job.

After only two weeks, one of the spots completely failed, because of a defective power supply. That was a bit of a damper. Talking to the merchant, I was offered a replacement power supply and some compensation for the work. I have never ever ever ever received any offer like this before. Being used to fixing broken devices, I’m just too happy to be able to do it that way. If I had had to order a replacement and then return the broken device, I would have been a way bigger pain. So it is a win-win situation, in a sense. 

Another challenge I am facing right now is to get the lights team together. After having taught one of our most faithful light master for a while, his school schedule changed and he’s not able to do our Wednesday service anymore at the moment. This means that I have to jump in and do it again myself. However, God had already thought of me and brought me a new apprentice.

• 

• 

• 

Church Planting Class

The new church planting semester has started with a lot of new people and some of the graduates have become teachers. The first couple of lessons are usually an introduction in how to prepare and hold a sermon, so it’s not new to us, but it’s always good to hear it again. Humans are forgetful beings, after all. This semester, we have to preach from Revelations 2-3, which means the letters to the seven churches, so no dragons and harlots. We have decided to preach from an outline only every time and it is a lot less difficult than we thought it would be.

However, I (Anja) have gotten the same feedbacks that I had gotten when I preached my last sermon the previous semester: try not to pace and you give a lot of interesting information, but try to bring a story or a joke in between, so you don’t lose the less intellectual people (Pastor Mike calls it nerd syndrome).

I (Chris) had a bit of a hard time to get into a flow again after the semester break. Speaking in front of people is still not natural to me. Another challenge for me this semester will be to work on the tone of my voice. Apparently, it is sometimes rather high for American standards. However, there’s always something to improve.

• 

Today’s Good News

Anja

My Today’s Good News was about John 3:16 (For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJV)) It was my first evangelistic message ever. However, I received a compliment from an old sales man, so I guess I must have “sold” the message well 😉 :

Chris

How important is it to pray and fast? Even Jesus prayed all the time, so what about us?

---

Family

Anja’s Encounter With The Police

I was just on my way to church, when I saw one of our friends walking in the same direction. It was a street with a lot of crossings and stops, which is why I usually drive slowly there. When I saw him, I stopped and waited for him to come over to my side. However, at that moment, a police car came dashing around the corner and pulled me over. The officer told me that I could not just stop in the middle of the road. I apologized. Our Mexican friend said that we were on our way to church. The officer then asked for my driver’s license, which I gave him, and for the papers of the car, which I did not have. I asked the officer, if I could quickly call my husband because of the papers, which he was okay with. It turned out, that the papers are always with Chris, just in case the car gets stolen. The officer was not impressed and he asked me, if the date on my driver’s license was the expiration date, which I denied. It was the date the license was issued. He then told me that I could not drive a Mexican car without a Mexican license and that he could take away the car. However, he asked me if we were going to church, which I confirmed. He then said that he would let me go with a warning and left.

According to our Mexican friend, he wanted some money, but Calvary Chapel Rosarito used to minister to the police by bringing them food and such, so apparently, we still have some brownie points. Another friend told me that police officers would not give tickets to women or the church. You apparently just don’t do that. He also told me that I should either act super nice, or aggressive and that both behaviors would be rewarded.

---

• 

SURPRISE! Baby No. 2 is underway!

After being late for my period and having some symptoms that reminded me of my first pregnancy, we decided to buy a pregnancy test which confirmed what we had suspected: we were going to have another baby! Due date is October 14th. So far, the pregnancy symptoms consist of a faster heartbeat, a rather mild all day sickness, loss of appetite, aversion against chocolate, infrequent pelvic pain and overall abdominal discomfort, and getting tired more easily, so nothing really bad.

The “challenge” for us is to now find a OB/GYN and a hospital that we like. We had Ziva in the States, but we won’t be able to do that since we most likely will not be able to cross and because we don’t have the funds to do it. It is a lot cheaper to have a baby in Mexico! My American friends from the mom’s prayer group all suggested the same hospital and gynecologist in Tijuana, but I really don’t want to go there, to be honest. It just feels wrong. A Mexican sister, who is four months pregnant, suggested her gynecologist in Rosarito. Apparently, he is the only one who allowed her 3 year old son in and that, to us, is important. We want Ziva to be a part of the process. She also told us that there is a private hospital in Rosarito that offers prenatal packages. I wrote them and received all the information right away although they ask people to call in.

Ziva

Our poor baby had a couple of rough days this month! First, she fell from the swing on the playground because she let go with both hands and fell on her face. Ziva looked quite beaten up (see picture) and we noticed that she didn’t have a lot of energy for a couple of days. She even threw up once, but the doctor said, we should give her some pain meds, apply teething gel and put ointment on the wounds. After Ziva was well, we took her to get the vaccine because she had turned 18 month. She had always been fine the previous times, but this time, she ended up with a terrible cold. Ziva was super tired, had the snottiest nose ever, was coughing and sneezing a lot, so Mami had to stay home with Ziva until she was feeling better.

However, Ziva did also have a lot of good moments this month. She’s been eating 25g of oats for breakfast every morning and is drinking from a cup now. In general, Ziva is now eating what we are eating, so no separat meal preparations anymore. She is also getting more independent on the playground and is able to climb up the ladder all by herself, she even pushed Mami’s hand away, who was trying to offer some security. Ziva has accepted that Mami cannot carry her anymore and is, most of the time, not even asking for it – not even when we are watching the dogs down by the gate (see picture). “Doggy” is also one of the only words she is able to say 😀 Ziva can now also stack several blocks and she also found out that the round piece goes in the round hole. Yay!

One day, Ziva found a headband with pink ears on the playground and she insisted on wearing them (see picture). It was the cutest thing! I would have loved for her to have them, but they belonged obviously to someone else and we left them where we had found them. Another highlight was when Chris took Ziva on stage and let her play the drums (see picture). She was not happy when she had to get down again.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Introducing Amazon Wishlist

As you might remember, we always mention how the Lord is providing for us, even if it’s sometimes in the last moment. However, what we have not told you is that we are usually only able to pay for the bare necessities, i.e. groceries, gas for the car, gas for the stove and the bills. Things like clothing, toys and makeup usually have to wait until our birthday or Christmas. Some of you are supporting us faithfully through finances, but we are aware that not everyone wants to do that, or is able to do that. For this reason, we have created an Amazon wishlist where we add the items that we would like to get (mostly for Ziva). We will also provide a scale of urgency and some information why we want the item. You will then be able to purchase whichever item(s) you would like and it will be shipped to our friend’s P.O. box in the States. So all you have to do is to choose and pay, everything else is taken care of. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/36Q431BWMGCGV?ref_=wl_share

---

Weather

This month, it was rather cool with some warm days towards the end of the month. What really surprised us was the thick fog one Sunday morning! It was so thick that we could hardly see anything on the highway! Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures while we were still in it… However, we have some pictures after we left the highway. They are not as impressive, but still nice.

• 

• 

---

Prayer requests

• More supporters
• Health for all of us
• Easy pregnancy, healthy baby
• Wisdom for the right choice of doctor and hospital

---