Jesus working in hearts in Hamburg

We arrived back to Hamburg Saturday December 29 after a wonderful time in Indiana with our friends and family. Two weeks was just not enough time to do all of it.

Yet God clearly wanted us back in Hamburg because we have had a lot of celebrating to do. On Sunday, three members of the small group that Kristy led at the International Baptist Church chose to follow Jesus in obedience through the waters of Holy Baptism. The picture here shows Steffen (second from left), Chelsea (fourth from left) and Priscilla (right).

Steffen grew up in Eastern Germany under communism where religion was forbidden. His brother in law Tobias and his wife Judith led him to the Lord about a year ago by bringing him to the IBC. He joined our small group in spring and is such a model to me of faith and conviction. He has 100% confidence in what Jesus says.

Chelsea is a Canadian dancer in the Hamburg Ballet Company. Another dancer invited her to her joint church friends/dancer friends birthday party a few years ago. Chelsea crossed the line and interacted with some of the church folks. She was surprised at how nice they were. Meggan invited her to coffee and began connecting her with other Christians. Chelsea came to church and started asking lots of questions. During one of those question sessions or services, she made the decision to accept Jesus's free gift of forgiveness. Chelsea has probably come farther than anyone in our small group. She has gone from a timid, brand-new Christian to a woman who loves to pray and has no fear of 2008 because she knows that God is in charge of it.

Priscilla is an Australian dancer in the Hamburg Ballet School. She came to Hamburg at 16 for dance school. She was already a Christian but she faced the choice that many of us have when we go to college. She could choose to keep the faith that her parents gave her or she could give it up. She chose Jesus. As soon as she got here, she looked for a church and the IBC Young Adults group.

As you can see, I'm pretty proud of these folks. They aren't just a Bible Study, they are my closest friends in Hamburg. I could go on more about the rest of the group- Ines, Bettina, Judith, and Eva-Maria, but I'll just stick to the honorees.