TEXAN NIGHT - 20 OCTOBER 2007

David and Tom opening the evening with a skit about Texas

The Girl's - Amanda, Laura, Donna Kay and Tara

Marianne and Ilona (with Johnny in the background)

The food!

Amanda and Kim

We had such a great night together (around 50 people came) and it was a lot of fun for us all, especially finishing up with the line dancing. I just didn't get it at all. Give me bush dancing any day! Still, we all joined in and it was lots of fun. A great hall in Riehen very close to public transport, so easy to find (well, for most people anyway!!).

FeG Youth Camp August 2007

David, Simea & Lia Gut
(Youth Pastor)







View from the Chalet
(peak in the middle
is where we climbed
to - unbelievable!)





Group photo of the
Aussie Night
(all dressed in
costume of course!)





Aussie Bush Dance
(Brown Jug Polka)






Sermon on the Mount
- literally!
Roger spoke from
Matthew 5
(what a climb - 1.5hrs
U P )



We had the most wonderful time at the Youth Camp. What a joy for us both to be amongst young people again. We have returned home tired but very happy.

Moving ahead

Things have been a bit quiet during August with many of the team away due to the summer holidays. We have met though and continue to make progress and move forward. Seven of us met Sunday 12 August to discuss the leadership of Mosaic Basel/Loerrach. At our next meeting on 2 September we hope to be able to appoint a team of leaders which will then free Roger and I up a little. Roger will still be one of the leaders. We also looked at a chart of the Church - Apostolic, Evangelism, Prophetic, Teaching and Pastoral and realizing as Christ followers we all fit in to one of these categories. It was a great meeting. A small group from the team have begun to meet to put together a theological statement of what we believe. Interesting times ahead.

Tomorrow Roger and I go on the Youth Camp of FeG Loerrach for a week. We are really looking forward to getting to know the young people better. The camp is to be held At Schwarzsee which is somewhere near the middle of Switzerland and near the Alps. It will be about a 1.5hr bus drive from Loerrach. We come back on 29 August and the camp goes till 1 September. Please pray for us and for David and Simea our Youth Pastor and wife and for the other leaders of the youth.

Attendance at our first German Wedding

We attended the wedding of Gerd and Brigette Folk at our FeG German Church in Loerrach. The service went for 2 hours and was filled with much celebration. Gerd has been a missionary with OM associated with the Doulos outreach ship.

The newly formed Gospel Choir. Spot Roger!!!!!!

I love the way the couple sit facing their family and friends throughout the ceremony. I think this is a special thing to do.

The Alphorn being played after the Wedding. This is a traditional Swiss music instrument.

Mosaic Picnic

Apologies for the silence. Here is a picture of (l-r) Ilona, Laura and Roger at our Mosaic Picnic in the Dreilander Park. It was a warm day and we had lots of fun playing with the frizbie, talking, bike riding and eating. About 18 people came and went at different times during the afternoon.

NETWORKING and PLATFORMING ! ! !

The things we get up to!!

Centrepoint, the English speaking club we belong to in Basel, is having an Aussie Night in September and Roger and I have volunteered to help out! We had our first meeting last night and I managed to round up 5 people. The lady who is suppose to be organizing the event completely forgot about the evening and I had to remind her it was on! Ah, it's great to be around Aussies!

So, we're looking for 'all things Aussie'! Do you think we thought about this sort of event when we left Australia? NOT AT ALL!!

We've also been invited to go on a Youth Camp for Germany speaking young people at the end of August and will be putting on an Aussie Night there as well. We'd better get cracking with ideas.

Any Aussies out there reading this blog want to help us gather things together! All help would be much appreciated!

MOSAIC PICNIC IN THE PARK

Today has dawned bright and clear with 31degress predicted. We have our Mosaic picnic and we're both really looking forward to it. As usual we have no idea how families will turn up, though we do know our dear friends Bernhard and Lorraine from Basel will be there!

Today is Bastille Day and we've been told a lot of the French will be coming across the border to shop in Germany as the shops will be closed in France!!

MOSAIC CONCERT THIS SATURDAY

We have the next Mosaic Concert this coming Saturday featuring Derek Webster. He composes his own songs, sings beautifully and plays the piano. He was hoping to bring a guitarist, but that is not going to happen now. What a shame. I think Derek is looking forward to this opportunity of doing a Concert. I just hope we will get a good number of people there. It is being held at the Ars Nova Galerie in Loerrach, a beautiful place which we enjoy visiting.

It has been difficult to get the team together long enough to talk about the logistics of the evening, but we all know pretty well what we need to be doing because we've done it a few times before now.

I must remember to take the camera and share some photo's with you.

Our SHAPE course continues to go well, but with many team members away on holidays, numbers were down yesterday. Still, it was a great time and I love meeting with my friends to discuss one on one the material and what we are learning. My shape is taking shape!! (Now if I didn't know my shape by now there would be something wrong)! But it is good to confirm the things I love to do and things I need to be doing!

Roger had a great time with our youth pastor this morning. He has invited us to go on the Church Youth Camp at the end of August. Now that will be taking us back a bit!! Roger said yes straight away, and I think this will be a great opportunity for us both, not only to catch up with all the young people (who speak English), but also to encourage the leaders.

SEED CONFERENCE ST GALLEN

Derek (speaking in English) and Stefan (translating into Deutsch). Derek spoke on SUNLIGHT as we through the topics EARTH, WATER and SUNLIGHT. "Jesus life was his message and his message was his life". There were 8 of us from Mosaic Basel-Loerrach (though 2 of our members served in the children's program. It was lovely to be together like this. Also to know that our Deutsch is slowly improving and we are understanding more and more. Still can't string a conversation together though but we keep trying.

The Music Team - FANTASTIC music, both in Deutsch and English. A great blend.

Some of the people at the Conference. (spot me!!!)

A N N E T T E

Isn't this photo just gorgeous of Annette? We went out to lunch after the service at which Roger preached. We went to the most gorgeous place and feasted on schnitzel - 4 course meal! We then all got photogenic and had our pictures taken! A very special time with our friends.

SERMON DOWNLOAD

Hello Dear Family and Friends,

If you would like to hear Roger's message from this morning you can go to:

www.feg-loerrach.de and then go to Downloads on the left hand side of the web page.

We've received great feedback and it was a joy for Roger to get up and preach this morning, the first time since being in Germany. "To God Be The Glory"

Photo's to follow soon.

R O G E R

Roger has prepared his message to speak at FeG Loerrach this coming Sunday 3 June at 10am. His topic - LIVING LIFE ON THE EDGE. One of our German team members Christian, will be doing the translation. This is Roger's first opportunity to preach since we have been in Germany - 15 months. We are very excited and both a little nervous.

Roger is at Choir practise tonight. They are practising for 2 Concerts on 17 and 19 June.

NEXT MOSAIC EVENT - 23 JUNE

Derek Webster will feature at our next Mosaic event to be held in Loerrach on 23 June at Ars Nova Galerie. Derek composes his own songs and plays the piano. I think he also plays the guitar. We're really looking forward to this evening of Pop Music in the style of Ben Folds, Counting Crows and The Fray.

A N N E T T E

Annette is visiting us from Newcastle, Australia. She arrived by train from Paris on Monday 21 May. It's been great to get to know her and show her a little of our Mosaic work. When she first planned to come we were having regular weekly team meetings, but these have temporarily been replaced by the S.H.A.P.E. course, with occasional meetings, so she hasn't really had the opportunity to see us in our planning meetings. But that's okay, God knows all about that.

Roger and I were asked to be on the registration desk of the Energy Science Forum in Basel (our friend Lorraine wanted intelligent, friendly people!!). This was held last Wednesday. We dobbed Annette in to look after the resource table - hum.....!! Let's just say we put this one down to experience.

Roger and I never miss an opportunity to meet new people and mingle. We were certainly able to do this after the speaker, at the Apero. There are certainly some weird and wonderful ideas 'out there'. We are certainly blessed with an amazing God who has an amazing plan for our lives. How we love to share and live as his children in this age of spiritual hunger. We are certainly in the right place at the right time.

S.H.A.P.E.

Our team has enjoyed 2 lessons from the S.H.A.P.E. course. Unfortunately, because of busy schedules, we have not been able to meet every week. We decided to meet on a Wednesday evening beginning with a simple meal together. This has worked well. We then have an amazing time of singing followed by the video talk, about 15 minutes. Then we divide into 2 groups - men and women. We've had lively and challenging discussion and I think all the team members have enjoyed this time spent together.

We will meet for the 3rd session this coming Wednesday 6 June.

"ALL THAT JAZZ"

The table spread for supper was magnificent. This photo was taken before all the food was on the table. The team truly excelled in this area, especially Amanda who worked together with Linda (who couldn't be there on the night) to make sure the 'bar' continued to be set high!!

Roger in conversation with Kath (member of English Seminar Choir) and friend

Benedikt is the tall grey haired man in this picture. Boy could he make the grand piano sing. Wonderful musician. The evening was wonderfully relaxing with around 33 people attending, so an intimate affair. It was great to have some young people there as well. The Galerie looked a picture, having been newly painted and renovated and with the pictures already hung ready for the opening night this coming Thursday, which both Roger and I hope to attend.

"ALL THAT JAZZ"

German team members Sylvia and Ilona

Claudia (part of the Jazz Duo - singer and flutest)

and team member Tara (in blue)

"The Shaping of Things to Come"

One of our team members mentioned the above book by Mike Frost and Alan Hirsch. They had been encouraged to listen to a series of talks by Mike Frost on "Unless a Seed Falls" or read the book "The Shaping of Things to Come". If anyone is interested, here is the link for the talks. Good stuff, but radical for our time BUT IT SHOULDN'T BE. We are listening to them for the second time, now as 5 people together. One of our small group is a German, so doesn't get some of the Aussie humour by Mike!
http://www.christianityworks.com/pages/teachers.asp?pid=150

Just yesterday we received a present from a young friend in Adelaide - a book, "The Forgotten Ways", by Alan Hirsch. Roger is currently CONSUMING it.

The challenge for our team is to 'get out there' where the people are and be radical for Jesus. Not the way we have been used to doing things! Roger and I have tried various things in the past e.g. after school club, befriending the local footy club, etc but we have never gone far enough.

I need Roger to comment. He would be a lot more theological!! I will encourage him to blog next week!!

S.H.A.P.E. 6 week course

We will be doing the S.H.A.P.E. course as a team beginning in the next week. This course has been designed by Erik Rees from Saddleback in the U.S. It stands for Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences. We're opening up the course to a few other people, but it is basically for the team to discover our gifts, etc. We're really looking forward to it.

We're hoping to move away from weekly Mosaic team meetings and let smaller groups take care of decision making and report back every so often.

An exciting journey, but our eyes must always be fixed on Jesus as he is our guide in all we do. We require much wisdom and communication is a key to what we are doing. Not always an easy task and we are learning heaps along the way.

"All That Jazz"

Our next Mosaic event "All That Jazz" is on this Friday 20:00 at Galerie Weibel in Basel. We seem to have cast the invitation wide, so hopefully there will be plenty of new people for us to meet. You never know with these sort of events as there is no rsvp. Roger and I have been helping Fritz and Ilona to get the Galerie ready. They have been painting it throughout and we are having a major clean as well. We also helped Fritz to send out invitations to the opening of the next exhibition "House of Trees" a photo exhibition which begins on 10 May. We will get a sneak preview on Friday night.

Welcome back Jack and Deanne

Our lovely friends Jack and Deanne have arrived back in Loerrach and we have just shared a meal with them here in Schopfheim. They have come from LA and will be here for 3 months. It is so lovely to see them again. I'm sure we'll be talking quite a bit about them in the coming months. They will bring a great contribution to our Mosaic Team. Right now they need to recover from their jet lag.

Lunch on Wednesday

Yesterday we had lunch with David, Simea and their 17 months old daughter Leah. David is the Youth Pastor at our FeG Church in Loerrach. We always have such good catch up's with them, but not often enough. We were able to give David a report Roger has written to the Pastor and Elders of the Church about our Mosaic Ministry, just to keep them in the loop.

Leah entertained us with some of her very funny antics.

New Friends

Last Sunday afternoon we had the privilege of meeting Peter, Lisa and their 2 boys Torik and Jona. They were brought up in Holland and have lived in Loerrach for nearly 4 years. They spent 2 years in Sydney. They came and had a meal with us here in our little home in Schopfheim and we had a great time together. We talked to them about Mosaic and our dream for a Community of faith, hope and love.

I'm sure our paths will cross again.

SPRING PRELUDE

We held our second Mosaic Basel event on 10 March at the Galerie Ars Nova in Loerrach. The programme included piano, xylophone, violin, voice and mime. Around 65 people attended, including the musicians and mime group (students from Black Forest Academy in Kandern).

I took the photo's below before the event started. I wished I'd kept the camera in my hand so that I would remember to take more photo's!! Oh well. You will get a bit of an idea of the Galerie and of course the yummy food)!

It was a great evening, enjoyed by all who came. New friends were made and phone numbers exchanged - the whole point of the evening.

The next event "All that Jazz" will be held on 4 May in Galerie Weibel in Basel.

LONDON LAB

We were especially privileged to go to London Lab at the beginning of February for a 6 day course.

London Lab "exists to provide a practical and reflective opportunity for practice of elements of cross-cultural relationship building and church planting".

The aim of London Lab "is to build relationships, networks and partnerships with all who desire to proclaim the Gospel message in culturally appropriate ways to "unreached" populations segments, facilitating the gathering of new believers into worshipping and discipling groups and churches".

Topics covered were prayer, gift based evangelism, relational ministry (Luke 10, person of influence/peace), mapping populations, fellowship (who is my fellow and how do I fellowship), platforming/identity, ministry options, accountability and Church planting - expanding the Kingdom of God.

This was an amazing experience for us both and we felt very blessed to be invited to attend this lab. There were 7 of us on the course. 1 person from France, 3 from Spain, 2 from Germany and 1 from Wales.

You might enjoy the photo's below. I had to post them both!

Jocelyn can you spot a very little addition to the photo's?

MOSAIC'S FIRST EVENT IN BASEL - 1 DECEMBER 2006

Our Team

We began team meetings in September 2006 and have been meetings regularly on a Sunday afternoon for team meetings and reflections. We currently have 16 in our team. (3 Germans, 1 French, 10 American and 2 Australian).

We have been preparing a strategic plan, looking at who are target groups are and we have held 2 events to meet English speaking people and to have fun.

What is Mosaic?

Mosaic is an international community of followers of Jesus Christ. Its aim is to reach people for Christ and plant churches where those with no church background can feel welcomed and be discipled. Founded in multicultural Los Angles, Mosaic now has outreach in Europe. The mosaic philosophy is ministry through relationship.

At Mosaic we believe:

• The church exists for those outside God's kingdom not just for those inside.
• In living a life of passion that is attractive to people rather than a mediocre life that will not attract anyone.
• God will provide the people and ministries he wants us to have. We don't then choose a ministry for people to fit into, rather we help folk come to their full God-given potential in the things they love doing.

Why Basel/Loerrach

Bordering Germany and France, Basel is the second largest urban area in Switzerland. There are thousands of English speaking people living and working in Basel and its surrounds.

Europe - the forgotten mission field

When we think of Europe, we often think of the great people and events in church history - from Paul's last days in Rome, to the spread of Christianity across Europe, the Reformation, great music like Handel's Messiah.

We usually think of Europe as a continent sending out missionairies to the world. Today many European countries are losing their Christian heritage and so are now a mission field.

REFLECTING

Here we begin an attempt to keep you up to date with the working side of our days here in Germany/Switzerland.

It is one year since we arrived in the beautiful village of Schopfheim. This has caused us to reflect and reminisce over the past 12 months and the amazing journey we have had and are continuing to undertake. God has been extremely good to us and we pour out our thanks and praise to him, as his children, believing we are in the place he wants us to be.

We hope you will enjoy coming on this journey with us and seeing where God leads us week by week. We hope we will be able to keep up with the blogging and do it justice!

We both hope to be able to make a contribution to the blog.