Greater Portland Baptist Church

Kevin and Stacy Byers: January 2009 Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

Greetings, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ creator of heaven and earth, who gave himself to become sin for us that we might be made sinless in God's sight. Thank you for continuing your support of our family as we strive to serve the Lord here in Germany. All is well with the Byers family and we thank you for praying so fervently for us. We are enjoying good health, good provision, and a great spirit among the few faithful who attend our services each week. The snow continues to pile up outside our house, but the heat is working great and the beds are all warm.

Pastor Daniel Ledford in Virginia challenged Stacy and me to read through a chronological Bible this year. This has proven to be a real blessing already as we learn more about the chronological order of the scripture.

The Lord is blessing God's Word Baptist Church with faithful people each week. Even with two men deployed at the moment, God gave us three adults on Sunday and two children. One single soldier visited our services for the first time, and one of our faithful ladies was home and not feeling well but plans to attend next week. We are studying through the book of Romans and we were excited when each person was able to quote the memory verse for the week. In addition to our weekly memory verse, I challenged our people to read one chapter in the book of Romans each day until our study is complete. I believe the Lord will use this study to strengthen people in their faith and understanding of salvation.

Although we are currently holding services in our home, it is in our hearts to rent a building closer to Stork Barracks. We located a great building for this purpose and our neighbors discovered the building is owned by the Catholic Church in Bad Windsheim.

A few weeks ago, I joined the volunteer fire department in my village of Lehrberg. The local nationals quickly welcomed me, suited me with all the fire fighting gear, and invited me to a banquet where the Burgermeister recognized me with an official certificate.

Back to the building situation......I was at the feuerwehr (fire department) speaking with the fire fighters and it turns out the catholic priest in Lehrberg is part of the feuerwehr. He is aware of this unused building and agreed to see if we can rent it. He will be checking with the priest at Bad Windsheim on our behalf which is much better and easier than if I were to approach the priest on my own. Our neighbor, Andrea; said "if you rent this building, I must come and see." Will you pray with us about this building? I have no earthly idea what it will cost, but I sense the Lord is working out the details.

There is always so much to say and so little space. Please accept our heart-felt thanks for the extra offerings and gifts. Several of you have done extra lately and without knowing, you have paid for doctor bills, replaced a washing machine, purchased glasses, and processed birth records. May God richly bless each of you!

- Kevin, Stacy, Josiah, Gabriel, Bella, Caleb, Noah, and Elijah