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!!!
