Tim and Cynthia Peterson
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March-April 2009 Prayer Letter
Subject: Dear Prayer Partners,
Ephesians 3:8 was my dad's life verse. It reads:
“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Dad had pastored churches in five different states over a 50-year period of time. He loved to preach the Word of God. On Valentine's Day Dad went home to be with the LORD. He was 83. His last words to me were: “The LORD has everything under control.” Dad always believed that, and now my earthly father is with my Heavenly Father!
Besides Dad's home going in February (necessitating my travel from Germany to Denver once to see him in the hospital and another trip for his funeral), a dear German Christian brother near us died of cancer as Dad did. Then a girl in our church work here in Norderstedt was hit by a car. Her name is Meline. She is home from the hospital now and on the mend. These have been difficult days. Thank you so much for your continual prayer for us. The opportunities to witness through these events have been many! Please pray for several individuals who received a gospel witness from us here in Germany, as well as in the Denver area.
Aaron and Jenny (our son and his wife) were here in Norderstedt with us in February. Aaron preached in my absence. God's timing for their visit was perfect! They returned to Wisconsin with photos of the east Hamburg suburb of Ahrensburg. They believe the LORD is calling them there and will soon begin deputation to raise prayer and financial support to later plant a local church in that town.
A number of visitors have been in our services lately. Please pray for us as we follow up their visits and seek to reach lost ones for Christ and to His local church.
PRAISES:
- 1. My dad, Dr. William C. Peterson, has graduated to Heaven!
- 2. Many great witnessing opportunities came our way through Dad's home going!
- 3. Aaron and Jenny are ready to start deputation for church-planting work here in Germany!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the soon salvation of Asterio, Kim-Sara, Eva, Oliver, and others.
- 2. Please pray for Meline to continue to heal after her accident.
- 3. Please pray for spiritual growth in the church folks here in Norderstedt.
Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support!
In the Beloved One,
Tim Peterson (with Cynthia and family)
May-June Prayer Letter
Subject: Dear Prayer Partners,
David stated:
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD” (Psalm 122:1).
In the New Testament we are taught that the believer's body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, but it is still a blessing and a privilege to meet with fellow believers to worship the LORD in the local church assembly.
March and April were characterized by good attendance at the church services in Norderstedt, Germany. Throughout these past two months, our Sunday morning attendance held steady, with 21 to 25 people present. A number of visitors were among those who came. Peter Horn came once with his wife and four children. They were thrilled to hear that our son and his wife, Aaron and Jenny, are now on deputation and planning to locate in Ahrensburg, an east Hamburg suburb where the Horn family lives. Cynthia reports that the regular ladies' meetings have also been blessed with visitors.
A Bible-believing local church an hour east of us sent invitations for the first-ever gathering of Bible-believing Christians in northern Germany held on May 1. They had hoped for 200 to 250 visitors for the all-day meeting in a civic building north of us. That conference was attended by between 600 and 700 believers from all over northern Germany. We heard good sermons on our prayer life and the home. It was a blessing meeting Christians from our region of Germany.
The pleasant weather now gives us better opportunities to talk to people about Christ at their front door or in town. Tim has mounted a tract rack on the wall at church. Please pray that everyone will get involved in taking the Gospel to lost souls around us through the written witness in these tracts. Thank you!
PRAISES:
- 1. The LORD gave us good attendance at church in March and April!
- 2. Aaron and Jenny are now starting deputation for church-planting work here in Germany.
- 3. There was a good gathering of believers from northern Germany on May 1.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the soon salvation of Asterio, Kim-Sara, Anne Marie, Jacquelyn, and others to whom we have recently witnessed.
- 2. Please pray for spiritual growth among the church as we study 2 Peter.
- 3. Please pray for God's protection for our two little ones who can both now ride a bike.
Thank you for your faithful prayer and financial support!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
September-October 2009 Prayer Letter
Subject: Dear Praying Colaborers,
Psalm 48:14 reads: ``For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.´´ Certainly the LORD is so faithful in saving and keeping us . . . even unto death! Praise His name!
School summer vacation is behind us. Our daughter, Laura, is back in school as a second grader at her Christian school in Hamburg. Please pray with us for her Christian school as the Hamburg city government seems to oppose the school at every turn. Only the LORD has kept that school going to this point.
It has been a blessing seeing a single lady named Frauke back in our services recently. She had grown discouraged earlier in her search for a job. That and other issues led to her dropping out of church for quite awhile. She is now working again, and attends services at church when her work schedule permits. Please keep her in prayer concerning spiritual needs in her life.
There are at least five candidates for baptism here. We require that they write out their testimonies in brief form and give those to us to read over before they can be baptized. Please pray that each one will find the time to accomplish that small task. As the weather stays pleasant, we like to hold our baptismal services at a lake in the area.
LORD willing, in October we will hold our annual German Thanksgiving service on a Sunday early in the month. Please be in prayer with us that folks will invite their family members and friends to that evangelistic service.
PRAISES:
- 1. Frauke is back in regular attendance at church!
- 2. We are looking forward to having fellowship with the Baptist church in Hamburg at church picnic soon.
- 3. Once again ``English Evening´´ has begun at our house with its many opportunities to witness to those who attend.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray that the folks who have expressed interest in being baptized will turn in their written testimonies to us soon.
- 2. Please pray for the LORD to protect Laura's Christian school from government infringement.
- 3. Please pray for the church folks to invite others to our German Thanksgiving Sunday in October.
Thank you for praying and giving that we may serve here in Norderstedt, Germany!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
12/2009 Prayer Letter Update
Subject: November-December 2009 Prayer Letter - AMENDED
Dear Praying Friends,
As stated in 2 Timothy 1:9, God's holy calling was given to us in Christ before the world began. The next verse continues:
“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
With the holiday season upon us, it is a joy to remember that Christ came to abolish death and bring us life and immortality through His glorious Gospel! Looking back on 2009, we realize we have had more family members and friends (more than a dozen of them) enter eternity than any previous year. Praise the LORD, every one of them knew Christ as Savior and is with Him in Heaven now!
Praise the LORD for the baptisms of two ladies, Melanie and Maria, on October 25! Thank you for praying for these ladies to take this step of obedience! After our morning service, we drove 15 minutes to a sister Baptist church in Hamburg where we baptized them in the baptistery there. Then we returned to our meeting place for a carry-in dinner. Maria's teenage son, Ibbi, also trusted Christ as his Savior at the close of our morning service that day!
Please pray for our annual Christmas season special service planned for Sunday afternoon, November 29. It will be a time for our folks to invite relatives and friends to hear the gospel message. It is one of our best-attended services all year.
PRAISES:
- 1. Melanie and Maria were obedient in believer's baptism on October 25!
- 2. Several visitors have attended our services in recent weeks!
- 3. Our son Aaron and his wife, Jenny, are expecting the birth of Nathan Isaiah Peterson in mid-February!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the soon salvation of Asterio, Marlene, Sergei and others.
- 2. Please pray for us as we seek the LORD'S direction in locating a larger meeting place.
- 3. Please pray for our evangelism efforts both through English lessons in our home and through tract distribution at the mall and door to door.
Thank you once again for your faithful prayerful support!
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
January-February Prayer 2010 Letter
Subject: January-February 2010 Prayer Letter
Dear Partners in Prayer,
In Revelation 4:11 we read:
``Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.´´
It is our practice at our church in Norderstedt to memorize a verse of Scripture during the Sunday morning service. The above Scripture verse has been chosen as our first one for 2010. Certainly the LORD is worthy!
Thank you for praying for our special Christmas service on November 29. We had two ladies, Sylvia and Jacquelyn, visit that service and hear the gospel message perhaps for the first time. Please pray our contact with these two and others will result in them coming to Christ and into His local church here.
The holidays also gave us great opportunities to witness to others as we did door-to-door canvassing, and tract distribution at our local shopping mall and even had a good conversation with a lady at the Hamburg Christmas market with the opportunity to invite her to our church services. Please pray for the LORD'S working in hearts here to open them to hear and to receive the gospel message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone!
The New Year offers us still more witnessing opportunities with the above- mentioned methods as well as through our ``English Evening´´ class in our home and personal conversations. Thank you for your prayer for these endeavors.
PRAISES:
- 1. Tobias, a 15-year-old teen in our church, has been encouraged by a Christian gentleman teacher from his school and again from his Christian gentleman boss at the butcher shop where he recently found employment. Now Tobias wants to prepare to preach God's Word!
- 2. Stella Brinkmann has been permitted by her husband to return to our church services and attends regularly now!
- 3. The church folks have been as faithful in attendance as their health permits.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. There is much sickness—mostly colds—going around here. Please pray for our health.
- 2. Kim-Sara has taken some positive steps in her life. Please pray for her soon salvation and spiritual growth.
- 3. Please pray for the health of our daughter-in-law, Jenny Peterson, as her February 10 due date draws near!
Thank you once again for your faithful, prayerful support!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
March-April 2010 Prayer Letter
Subject: March-April 2010 Prayer Letter
Dear Praying Friends,
In Psalm 127:3-5a we read:
“Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. . . .”
It is a joy to report we are now grandparents! Jenny, our daughter-in-law, gave birth to Nathan Isaiah Peterson on January 29, 2010. Nathan weighed 7 lbs, 14.9 oz and was 20 inches long at birth. It will be a blessing to see him and his parents when then come to see us in July. Thank you for praying for the birth. Everything went well.
The LORD blessed us with visits from three young ladies in the past several weeks. A young lady named Rissma visited our midweek service, and Jacquelyn and her sister Jolika visited the following Sunday morning. Rissma also expressed a desire to come to the English evening sessions held Tuesday evenings in our home. Those sessions will start again after spring school vacation. Please pray that we will be able to have further contact with these young ladies and see them trust Christ as Savior.
Though much snow has fallen here this winter, and the side streets have neither been plowed nor sanded, we have been able to keep up the regular door-to-door tract canvassing. As the weather warms up, we look forward to discussing the tracts' contents with people at their doors once again.
Please pray for us as we make preparations for summer furlough to visit our supporting churches in and around Colorado. A video presentation is in the making, and we hope to get a family portrait taken and sent in to have prayer cards made soon. Thank you!
PRAISES:
- 1. Nathan Isaiah Peterson (our first grandchild) was born January 29!
- 2. Our son, Aaron, and his wife, Jenny, and Nathan have a low-cost dwelling to occupy soon while they finish their deputation.
- 3. Two other couples are prayerfully considering church-planting work in the Hamburg area and will be visiting us this summer, LORD willing.
- 4. The folks have been quite faithful to church services here in spite of several sicknesses.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the salvation of Kim-Sara and her children, and for their relocation as the LORD provides.
- 2. Please pray for various health issues among some of the church folks here.
- 3. Please pray for God's will as we seek furlough replacements and contact churches for the summer of 2011.
- 4. Please pray for still more new contacts in our evangelistic work here.
Thank you so much for faithfully, prayerfully supporting us!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
May-June 2010 Prayer Letter Update
Subject: May-June 2010 Prayer Letter & THANK YOU FOR THE BIRTHDAY GREETINGS! - Tim
Dear Praying Friends,
Psalm 48:14 states: “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.” It is wonderful to know that God will guide us if we seek His wisdom in His Word.
Christoph Barth is a Christian gentleman who has been attending regularly in the past several weeks. He loves the LORD and is looking forward to distributing gospel tracts with Tim in our local shopping center in the near future. Please pray the LORD will bless this and our other evangelistic efforts.
Preparations continue for our family to furlough briefly in Colorado and the surrounding area this summer. Prayer cards have been printed and delivered, and messages and a display table are in the planning stages. We are thankful that our son and his wife and baby, Aaron, Jenny, and Nathan Peterson will be here to fill in during this upcoming furlough. It will be good to see many of you this summer, and others the following summer, if the LORD tarries.
Once again we put an ad in our local newspaper for the English class held one evening a week in our home. Liese Kuehl is a new lady who is now attending with some others. She and two other ladies are teachers or retired teachers. Please pray for us as we weave a gospel witness into the reading aloud of news articles with them. Thank you!
A special prayer request is for a lady from the church here whose name is Melanie. Doctors have told her she has a degenerative lung disease, which she apparently inherited from her late father. She is trusting the LORD in it all but would be grateful for your prayers.
PRAISES:
- 1. Christoph Barth is attending our church services regularly and has an evangelistic spirit!
- 2. Preparations for furlough are coming along well.
- 3. There has been good attendance at church in spite of much illness.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the various evangelistic efforts here.
- 2. Please pray for the soon salvation of Liese, Asterio, Nils, Kim-Sara, and others.
- 3. Please pray for spiritual growth among our church people.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayerful support!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
July-August 2010 Prayer Letter
Subject: Peterson's July-August 2010 Prayer Letter
Dear Praying Friends,
In Isaiah 41:10 we read,
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
It is wonderful to know our LORD is ever with us to provide and protect as the need arises.
On Friday, July 9. our family will fly to Colorado for a short furlough through August 17. LORD willing, we will visit all of our mountain states’ supporting churches in that time. Our son, Aaron, his wife, Jenny, and our new grandson, Nathan, arrived here in Germany on Friday, July 2. Aaron will be preaching for Tim at the church here in Norderstedt in our absence. Please pray for their ministry here this summer and for our safe travel to the USA. Thank you!
Praise the LORD for good attendance in our church services lately! On Sunday morning, June 27. although many of our regulars were away, we had 30 people present. Among them were some who are not yet saved. Please pray for the soon salvation of Andre, Wolfgang, and Lara. There was also a man from Iran named Saad with his wife, and their young daughter and son. They claim to be Christians and are new to Germany. Unfortunately, he speaks only very broken English, and she speaks beginner's German. They are delightful people, but we are waiting for the day to come when we can better communicate with them in either German or English.
Another recent visitor on Sunday, July 4. was a man named Ian from Australia. He spoke no German, and we are asking the LORD whether He would have us start an afternoon service for English-speaking people.
The English classes at our house on Tuesday evenings have also been well attended by the five ladies who have commited themselves to improving their spoken English skills. The LORD has given us many opportunities to openly and clearly give the Gospel to them. Please pray for the salvation of Irmgard, Eva, Liese, Birgit, and Hedder.
PRAISES:
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1. Praise the LORD for 30 in attendance Sunday morning, June 27. and good attendance other times recently!
- 2. Praise the LORD our son, Aaron, and family have arrived safely to cover for us this summer.
- 3. Praise the LORD for many witnessing opportunities in recent days.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the soon salvation of Andre, Wolfgang, Lara, Irmgard, Eva, Liese, Birgit, Hedder, and others.
- 2. Please pray for our safety in travel to and in the USA and for Aaron's ministry here this summer.
- 3. Please pray that Aaron and Jenny will soon gain the rest of their needed support to come permanently serve in Germany.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayerful support!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
September-October 2010 Prayer Letter
Subject: Tim and Cynthia Peterson`s September-October 2010 Prayer Letter
Dear Prayer Partners,
1 Samuel 7:12 states:
“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.”
Certainly, we know the LORD helped and protected our family through a short furlough in July and August. Thank you again to all of the families and local churches who hosted us during our brief stay in the United States!
Now that we are back in Germany, we plan to contact the remainder of our supporting churches to set up a meeting to make a field report to them next summer. Laura's Christian school principal has granted us permission to take her out of third grade a full month early at the end of this school year. That should give us enough time (10 weeks) to visit the remainder of our supporting churches and then be back in Germany in time for Laura to start fourth grade and Jason to start first grade at the Christian school in Hamburg. Thank you for praying with us and working with us in scheduling those meetings!
Praise the LORD for continued good attendance at the church services here in Norderstedt. Our son Aaron reported a number of visitors during the summer months, and we had 30 in the Sunday morning service recently, with 27 present this past Sunday morning. One additional blessing is that Manfred, who had been out of church for two years, stated that he had confessed his sinful attitude to the LORD and has now returned to the fellowship of the local church!
The various tract distribution and evangelistic programs continue. The English Evening group is a special place for us to present the Gospel—in English—to those who attend. One lady named Irmgard is especially receptive to the Gospel. We plan to invite her over sometime soon for a meal so that we can witness to her alone more directly. Please pray for the LORD to direct us in that matter.
PRAISES:
- 1. The LORD protected us during our recent short furlough as we drove over 7,000 miles.
- 2. Sunday morning attendance has been at or near 30 in recent weeks!
- 3. Manfred has returned to the fellowship of the local church.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- 1. Please pray for the soon salvation of Irmgard, Kim-Sara, Asterio, and others.
- 2. Please pray for our preparations for another short furlough in 2011.
- 3. Please pray for some new contacts and salvation decisions through the various evangelistic programs here.
Thank you again for your faithful, prayerful support!
In the Beloved One,
Tim and Cynthia Peterson
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