The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end and there is nothing hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6

The team arrived safe and sound in Switzerland on Friday, March 29 and we have had a wonderful transition to life in the Alps. God is good and indeed we sense His presence in this beautiful country and in the peaceful setting of the Schonegg House. The highlight of course was seeing the Antolovich family — Pastor Brad, Marianna, Jael, Lirit, Yonit, Danny and Isaac. It is so good to see how the Lord has been ministering to them and through them. The fruit in their lives is very evident and we have had a wonderful time sharing the Word, fellowship and prayer. We arrived on Friday, but spent the day getting acquained with Pastor Brad and his beautiful family as well as the spacious and comfortable home they live in called Schonegg House. The group were quite tired from all the travel and so it was early to bed to recover from jet lag.

On Saturday the team gathered for devotions and heard a message from Pastor Brad from the Book of Nehemiah. Pastor Brad read chapter one and taught us that we are living this chapter today. After much sharing and encouragement from the Word we had a powerful time of prayer seeking the Lord's healing touch on a number of us as well as His ministry into our lives. We all felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as we prayed and sought the Lord. The rest of the day was spent hiking, resting and eating as we continued to spend time together as one big family. The day ended with a special birthday celebration for one of the team members, Melody Daze, who was richly blessed by the outpouring of love from her family in Christ. We enjoyed a special surprise visit from a family that are very good friends of Brad and Marianna's. They brought chocolate, of course, and blessed us with their love and welcome to Switzerland.

Sunday was another great day. After devotions and a delicious breakfast of Ruth's homemade Quiche, we headed off for Basel in northern Switzerland. This is the birthplace of the state of Israel as Theordore Herzyl held the first Jewish congress there in the late 1890's. It was fascinating to walk the streets of Basel and see the incredible history of this beautiful European city. We had a traditional Jewish lunch (day before Passover), visited the local synagogue and then toured the museum which contains the story of this fascinating history of Israel. We were all blessed through Pastor Brad's teachings and insights. After a day filled with learning, fellowship, exploring and great, great food (yes, that means more Swiss chocolates) we returned home to the Schonegg House where Gord, Esther and Danny Spalding had dinner waiting!!

Tomorrow our work teams begin to get busy (n.b., it must be noted that Ruth's kitchen team has been working hard since the moment we arrived ... they have been hard at work cooking for and cleaning up after 26 people and tomorrow we expect Joel Wickstrom to arrive making it 27). We are also having a passover celebration with 60 people tomorrow night.

What a wonderful opportunity to be part of what the Lord is doing here in Switzerland through this precious family. We can hardly believe that we got to come here and share in this. Please pray that our remaining days will be productive, that the Lord will have HIs way in each of our hearts and that His plans and purposes for the Antolovich family and the Schonegg House will be accomplished.

We miss everyone from home and send our love. We are praying for you too!!!

Families en route

Two families who are part of RMCC's Swiss Alpine Outreach team are already in Switzerland. The Butikofers, Stefan, Loralea, Chris and Sophia are spending a week with Stefan's parents while the Spalding family, Gord, Esther, Nicole and Danny are touring the countryside. They will be meeting up with the rest of the team at the Schonegg House.

Schonegg House

The Schonegg House is over 100 years old and is located in a small village in the Swiss Alps called Kiental. This village has about 75 families and already Pastor Brad has connected with the local believers.

The Journey to Switzerland Begins

The RMCC Swiss Alpine Outreach team is less than a week from being with the Antolovich family of For Zion's Sake Ministries at the Schonegg House in Kiental, Switzerland. Already two families have made the journey to Switzerland with the Butikofers leaving on March 23rd and the Spaldings on March 24th. The rest of the team departs on Thursday, March 29th arriving in Zurich on Friday, March 30th at 8:30 a.m.

Here is the background as to why we are going on this trip ...

RMCC first became connected to Pastor Bradley Antolovich and For Zion's Sake when RMCC Senior Pastor Glen Nudd made his first trip to Israel in 2000. He and Pastor Quinn Davis met up with Pastor Brad, who is both the leader of For Zion's Sake and at the time was the Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Jerusalem. As Pastor Glen and Pastor Quinn learned about the work of For Zion's Sake in ministering to the humanitarian and spiritual needs of Jewish people returning to Israel, a knitting of hearts began and this work has continued over the years. Since that first meeting, Pastor Glen has lead three trips to Israel, each time taking humanitarian aid to For Zion's Sake and spending time with the Antolovich family while in Israel.

The Schönegg House in Switzerland

Pastor Bradley, his wife Marianna and their five children have now been called to Switzerland to pioneer the establishment of a European branch of For Zion’s Sake Ministries. The family spent the summer of 2006 at The Schönegg House in the Swiss Alps of the community of Kiental, just southeast of the city of Bern. It was a time of inner refreshing and restoration for this precious family that has spent so many years serving the Lord on the frontlines in Jerusalem.

While in Kliental, they met a number of Swiss believers who are hungry for the Word of God and the fact that the Antolovich family had come from Jerusalem opened many doors for opportunities to share their faith.

The family returned to Jerusalem after the summer with a desire to go back to The Schönegg in December for one year to continue serving the Lord. Pastor Bradley believes God has called him to Switzerland to bring a voice to the sleeping church in Europe about their biblical responsibility to stand with the Jews and the nation of Israel against a mounting wave of anti-Semitism and radical Islam.

Pastor Brad also feels called to prepare “safe houses of refuge” for those who will be persecuted in the days to come. The previous owners of the 25-bedroom Schönegg House wanted to donate it to For Zion’s Sake so it could be used to bless the Jewish people.

As Pastor Brad and his family take this step of faith, a team of believers, including families from Calgary, Irricana, Regina and Florida, have a desire to go and encourage them through fellowship, prayer and practical ministry. This team of 20 will be spending one week at The Schonegg House.

Our team members have been divided into three teams as follows:

But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
1 Corinthians 12:18


Kitchen Crew
Ruth Semple, Team Leader
Nick Semple
Chris Butikofer
Nicki Spalding
Melody Daze

Labour Crew
Gord Spalding, Team Leader
Danny Spalding
Stefan Butikofer
Loralea Butikofer
Salena Brown
Bruce Daze
Pastor Ken Scrubbs
Joel Wickstrom

Cleaning/Decorating Crew
Gail Mantle, Team Leader
Linda Scrubbs
Esther Spalding
Sophia Butikofer
Julianne Daze
Emily Daze
Davene Michie