February Update!

                                                                                       Hello from Germany!

Our future home!

Miriam and I hope this update finds you doing well!
We had a couple of interesting weeks in which we had to trust God a little more than normal. We often quote Philippians 4:6, 7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." But now we really had to live these verses. Firstly, Miriam recently had a abdominoscopy which is where they take a camera into your stomach and look around. They found that Miriam has a disease called Endometrioses. It is not life threatening in any way but can cause pain and also makes it more difficult to get pregnant. They removed the Endometrioses but it could always come back; Miriam has made a full recovery and she started back at work this week. The second area where we have had to live out Philippians 4:6,7 is with our house situation. Right when we started ministering at the new church in Neunkirchen we felt like we need to move closer to the church. One of the reasons is that being closer would make it easier for the Youth Group kids to come to our house during the week - another opportunity to minister to them. After much prayer and looking at different apartments, people from the church offered us a condo - half a house :) - for an amazing price. The previous renter had also just put in her cancellation and so we also cancelled our place. The cancellation deadline in Germany is three month. It all looked perfect... but, the lady who had been living in the house stopped paying rent, disappeared for a while and simply did not move. Finally the landlords had to take the case to the lawyers which made us start to worry that April 1st we would be homeless. It is a strange feeling to know that you have to pack your house up when you don't know where you will unpack them!!!
But God is faithful and his timing is perfect!!! This past Sunday the landlord went to talk to her, seeing that she needed help, called me and others from the church to help her move. She had no one to help her and was extremely thankful for all the help that we gave her. We pray we were able to be a witness to her and that Jesus would save her!!
The good news is that we will now be moving at the end of March and will not be homeless :)
Please pray for our move!

Mark Class!

On the ministry side of life things are going extremely well. We have a constant number of kids coming out for the youth group on Friday nights and God is working in their lives which is always encouraging to see. There are a couple of kids which aren't yet walking with the Lord. Pray that those kids would come to know Jesus as their Savior. Sometime this spring the youth group is going to have a worship workshop day. It is something the Lord has put on my heart  for a couple of different reasons. First, we all need to grow as worshipers; second, there is some tremendous musical talent and we believe God wants to use these kids as worship leaders in the future. Please pray for that day, pray God would have His way in their hearts!! In regards to the bible college: The office work is going well. Since Miriam was sick she has just now gotten back into the swing of things. My Mark class is going well. I have 11 students and you see some of them posing for a picture above. Please pray for strength and wisdom for us as we serve God.

God Bless,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Pics from CCFG Winter Retreat!

Hey Everyone!

Us Worshipping together!

I wanted to post some pictures of the retreat, which we just had as well as thank everyone of who prayed for us. God really worked among us and many of the kid’s hearts were broken for the Lord. Many of the kids came up and received prayer and Miriam and I's prayer is that there would be lasting change accomplished in the lives of the kids. 

We also just simply had fun together and that was one of our desires going into this camp that the kids would be drawn closer together as a group and that the cliques would dissolve. We saw God do some wonderful work in that area and we are so thankful. For the most part that camp went well except for one broken arm, which happened to Miriam, and I's good friend and fellow coworker Katha. She will have surgery tomorrow the 11th of January so please pray for the surgery or pray for her recovery if you read this later than the 11th of January. We ask for your continued prayers for some of these kids. Some of them come from difficult family backgrounds and are dealing with the pain of their family situations. Pray that God would continue to pour his love out upon them and that they would ask God to heal them and that they themselves would forgive just as their Father in Heaven has forgiven them. Pray most importantly that those who have not yet received Christ would do so to receive the ultimate healing of salvation upon their lives. Miriam and I thank you guys for your prayers, know that God is answering those prayers on the other side of the globe in these kids lives. 

Your brother and sister in Christ,

Bible Study Group Work!

Andrew and Miriam Rann

Murder Mystery Dinner!

Miriam and one of the girls!

Winter Activities!

Hello Everyone!
Miriam and I hope that you all have had a blessed Christmas and a good start in the New Year. Miriam and I want to also thank you all who prayed for us and you financially give to us here on the mission field. Without your support we wouldn't be able to do what we do and we are so grateful for your generosity! Thank You!
Since the end of the Semester, Miriam and I have been getting ready for the CCFG Youth Retreat. We leave tomorrow the 2nd of January and will come back on Thursday the 5th of January. The time will be filled with bible studies focused on the kingdom parables out of the gospels and many activities with teens. Please pray for energy, wisdom and God's overall blessing on the youth retreat. 27 kids will be attending and Miriam and I are blessed to have 5 other adult helpers who are going along on the trip. In all there will be 34 of us going! We are excited about this time where the kids can get to know us better and us them. Please be praying!
Right now the bible college is not in session so we can focus on other things like moving to Neunkirchen. In Germany you often have to cancel your apartment with three months notice to the renter. Often that means, you have to cancel you apartment without knowing where you are moving to. This we have done, knowing that God would provide for us an apartment. So starting March 1st Miriam and I will be without an apartment unless God provides something. But it seems God has, we have been offered an amazing condo like place very close to the church in Neunkirchen. We are moving in the direction of taking it but have not yet given our final yes. We are praying and would appreciate your prayers as well about this new apartment.
After the retreat I will post a new update with pictures of the retreat and all that God did!
God Bless You!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Reflecting on God's Blessings!

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope this finds you doing well and you are enjoying the fall season. Here in Germany it is getting cold and the leaves are turning color - beautiful :)

We have had a couple of busy months: We have started another bible college semester, we have taken over the youth group of Calvary Chapel Freier Grund, we have had a baptism with the church and Andrew visited America for a week... In all of these things God has been so faithful!!

We have now completed the transition from the old youth pastor to Andrew which was a smooth transition. God has really allowed us to come in and feel instantly comfortable with the youth and for them to feel comfortable with us. They were really open toward us and it is a joy to get to know them better. The group is growing both numerically and spiritually which is exciting! It is amazing to see God working in the youths hearts and lives. Our heart is that God would raise up many from the youth group to serve in the different tasks that need to be accomplished every Friday evening. Please also begin to pray that God would send us adults who have a heart for the youth and could also take them under their wings and disciple them because it is all to much for Miriam and I to do alone.

The bible college is going really well. The semester has had a great first half; it is unbelievable that we are already half way done. Andrew has been teaching through 1, 2 Thessalonians on Monday night which is a joint bible study for the church as well as a bible college class for the students. It has been going really well and there are many people attending from the church. Andrew also had the opportunity in October to go with Arne, the director of the bible college, to California. There Arne had the opportunity to speak to the students at the main Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California. We also had the chance to speak to three different church congregations about the bible college. It was a blessing and we pray that God uses it to call the people he wants to Europe and the mission field.

What lies ahead for us? We are planning a youth winter retreat in January. That of course takes a lot of organization and planning from us. We are praying for people to help us lead it, somebody that will help cook the meals as we have to do that ourselves, what the spiritual theme should be and what fun activities we can do...
We are also still looking for an apartment in Neunkirchen and are hoping to move sometime in January. We have been looking at different places but they have been too small or too expensive.

In January Andrew will begin to work on a daily basis in the church in Neunkirchen and is looking forward to getting fully involved in the ministry there.

Please continue to pray for these things we mention here. Thank you for all your love and support. It means the world to us. Please also let us know how we can pray for you. We love to stay in touch!

Many blessings to you,
Andrew & Miriam

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope ~ Jerm. 29:11

Summer Prayer Requests!

Hello Everyone,
Miriam and I have had the great pleasure visiting many of you in California and then visiting family in Hannover this summer. We had a blast and are very thankful for the time we had!
Now we have been back in Siegen for the last month getting ready for the new semester and beginning our transition of becoming the youth leaders for CC Freier Grund in Neunkirchen
The transition with the youth group has gone really well so fare. Miriam and I were able to go to the Church's retreat and there get to know many of the youth. We were so blessed because the youth had no inhibitions and immediately accepted us and were excited to hang out with us. Please continue to pray for the transition though. Pray that the kids as well as the parents would accept us and pray that God would bless our relationship with the kids.
Also this month I will be teaching a lot for the church because Wolfgang is on vacation. I will be teaching two Sunday mornings and 4 Wednesday nights. Pray that God would bless my time as I study. You can find my messages at the churches website www.ccfg.de/predigtarchiv.html
Another prayer request is the upcoming bible college semester. Miriam is hard at work in the office communicating with students and working on the many other things which need to be done so that this bible college can run properly. Pray also for me as I prepare for the Thessalonians class. This semester I will be teaching Monday nights which is not just a bible college class but is also open to the whole church. Pray that God would give me lots of wisdom and incite when discussing the second coming of Christ.
Thank you for your prayers and your support as we serve the Lord here in Siegen. :)
In Christ's love,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Semester Ends and New Things begin!

Hello Dear Friends and Family,
We are nearly through this semester. This is actually the last week of the semester. It hasn't been the easiest semester because we had to send one of the girl students back home. But God has been extremely gracious to us in bringing us through this semester. I finished up my Revelation class yesterday and Miriam is finishing up her ladies discipleship class tonight. Most of the students will go home during the weekend. Please pray for this last week of this semester as we wrap everything up and say good bye to the students.
From the semester we go straight into the our annual ministry conference which CC Siegen hosts every May(flyer is on the left). The conference is a time for ministry team members to get away from there normal busy lives and spend some time getting refreshed. This year the theme of the conference is the Holy Spirit at Work Today. We are looking forward to what the God is going to do through his spirit as we look into God's word and wait upon him. Please pray for everyone involved! Pray for the team from Santa Barbara which helps lead the conference. Pray wisdom and strength for them! Pray for the attendee's. Pray that God would pour his spirit upon them in a special way and further equip them for the work of the ministry. Pray for the staff at the bible college and the church as we will be busy serving and making sure everything is going as it should. Pray that we would have wisdom, flexibility and strength as it is often includes days that begin at 6am and end at 10pm.
Also Miriam and I for the last couple of years have been praying about a new ministry opportunity that God has put in front of us. It has been a long process of waiting upon God and waiting for his timing but we feel like the circumstances are now good and more importantly that God has shown us that this is now the right time. The ministry opportunity is that I will become the youth pastor of a small Calvary Chapel here in the area and will eventually give up most of my responsibilities at the bible college. The church is called Calvary Chapel Freier Grund (The building is the picture to the the right) and the Senior Pastor is a long time teacher at the bible college Wolfgang Jung (his picture is attached). Miriam will continue to work at the bible college but I will after next semester only be an off campus teacher. I am very excited about the opportunity and the new challenges that it will bring. Unfortunately the church is a small congregation and cannot afford to pay me a monthly salary so we will continue to rely upon your financial support. Miriam and I would ask that you would pray about supporting us if you feel so led. Every month God is so faithful to us but every little bit helps us to make ends meet. If you cannot support us financially please join us in prayer for our ministry here in Germany. God answers prayers and we deeply covet them. In our prayer request box you can see our prayer requests and some financial support needs that we have.
We will be in California this summer from June 9th through July 6th. We look forward to seeing all of you and hopefully being able to spend time with one another.
May God richly bless you!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Outreach Week and Thank you!

Hello to all our brothers and sisters,
Miriam and I wanted to write a quick update and some prayer requests. This upcoming week is Outreach week. We have teams going all over Europe and further. Here is the list; Stockholm, Salzburg, Munich, Morocco, Turkey and Nice, France. Please pray for these teams as they go out and share the love of Christ in those cities and countries. Pray for safety and for open doors to share the gospel. Miriam and I will be staying back and getting a head on studying and the work around the bible college. We rather have the Interns lead the Outreach Teams for them to get experience and learn what it means to be a leader. There are not enough students for us all to lead a team and so we are staying behind.
But please keep the outreach teams in your prayers because God moves through prayer.

Miriam and I also want to update you on Danny. The young man who I sent an email out about. He was so blessed with all the prayers and support that came through that email. He asked for the opportunity to thank you and this is what he wrote:
"My brothers and sisters in California, I just want to thank you form the bottom of my hear for the generosity you have shown me, and I thank God that he has stirred your hearts to help support me while I am here in bible college in Germany. I was deeply moved when I found out that you would be supporting me, and I just pray that God blesses you all in your walk with him in the same way you have blessed me. Go raibh maith agat go mor agus Buiochas le Dia which in Irish means thank you and God bless you, Danny
Galatians 6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, sisters and brothers. Amen."
It was truly amazing how God answered his need through you. In total people gave592$ to Danny. He was truly blessed as you can hear from his letter. So thank you from Miriam and I! Continue to pray for him as he is hoping to find a job in Ireland over the summer.
Truly the body of Christ is something special and we are blessed by all of you who support us. God Bless!
The Ranns