The Rann's Missionary Page

Pics from CCFG Winter Retreat!

2012-01-10T02:37:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Us Worshipping together!

I wanted to postsome pictures of the retreat, which we just had as well as thank everyone ofwho prayed for us. God really worked among us and many of the kid’s hearts werebroken for the Lord. Many of the kids came up and received prayer and Miriamand I's prayer is that there would be lasting change accomplished in the livesof the kids.

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

Your brother andsister in Christ,

Bible Study Group Work!

Andrew and Miriam Rann

Murder Mystery Dinner!

Miriam and one of the girls!

Winter Activities!

2012-01-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-10-27T01:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-08-01T03:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-05-10T00:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

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

Spring and New Beginnings

2011-02-23T08:49:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!
Here comes our update along with some prayer requests! Sorry it has been a while...
Miriam and I had a few very busy weeks with the western European pastors conference and the start of the semester. About 60 pastors from as far away as Ireland to Italy attended the conference. As the Bible College staff we just helped to facilitate the conference doing things like setting up beds, helping to cook, cleaning bathrooms and doing the dishes. Serving the servants is always fun! What a blessing to bless those who serve all over Europe!
I was also able to attend some of the sessions which was a great encouragement. David Guzik was the main teacher :)
We also just started our new semester with over 30 students! We praise God for them because we would not have a bible college without them. God is so good, he brought all the students from last semester, except one, back for this semester. The 6 additional students we do have compared to last semester make the financial situation of the college a little easier, but it is still very much a prayer request.
I am once again the Dean of Men and Miriam, with the help of our fellow friend and college Katha, is the Dean of Women. That means we are basically the under shepherds for Arne over the flock of students. Pray for us! Pray that God would give us supernatural eyes to see the needs and would give us the wisdom in his strength to meet those needs. So far it has been challenging, especially with the ladies, and we really need the LORD to give us wisdom.
Miriam and Katha are also teaching the Woman's Discipleship class on The Names of God. I am not teaching the Men's Discipleship class this semester but am overseeing it. Pray for me as I teach through the book of Revelation. We are already through chapter 5 and have been so blessed by this book that is all about Jesus and his plan for us and this world. As you can see there are two pictures: One picture is the ladies of the bible college and their class and the other is my Revelation class with my 19 students.
How does the future look for this semester you might ask. Well we have our speakers week next week. This is a special time for the students to hear from guests lecturers and have more time to seek the Lord. Pray for this week because it is always filled with spiritual attacks. Also, Miriam and I just bought plane tickets to visit California in the summer and will be there from the 9th of June till the 6th of July. One of the main reasons we are coming besides seeing my family is that we didn't have any time to really hang out with people when we there in November so here is our opportunity. We would love to see as many people as possible! Thank you for your prayers and financial support!
Blessings,
The Ranns

Some December prayer requests!

2010-11-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

Hello from snowy and cold Germany,

Miriam and I got back to Germany on Sunday and this is what awaited us as we came home. At the beginning of the winter you enjoy the snow but by the end of the winter you are looking forward to spring. Right now it is fresh and fun!
Miriam and I had a great time in California with my family celebrating the marriage of my sister Erin to Rob Johnson. The wedding was beautiful and went really well. Miriam and I were very blessed that we were able to make it out for that special event! We also spent Thanksgiving with the family which was an absolute blessing for us to take part in.

Unfortunately, we are down to only two more weeks of the school's semester. Please pray that we get back into the swing of things quickly. We desire to finish off full of joy and accomplishment due to all the things that God has done during this semester! Please pray for my class as I only have one more week to finish up the book of Genesis and then must give the final exam. Pray that God would give me wisdom as I teach and that the students would feel they have a good grasp of the ending of Genesis. This book ends with the awesome life of Joseph and how God turned what was meant for evil into good to accomplish his will.
Also, please be praying for Miriam as she gets ready to teach at a girls youth group tonight. She will be teaching about purity and relationship which is not an easy topic. Pray for wisdom as she opens Gods word and pray that she would know how to effectively answer their questions not with her own opinion but with what the bible has to say.

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the majority of you while were home. Unfortunately we were not able to hang out with as many of you as we would have liked. There is a chance that we could be coming home again in June, so if that happens we look forward to spending more time with those who we weren't able to hang out with.
We pray that God would be blessing you and fill you with joy as we enter into the Christmas season. We all should remember to keep Jesus at the center of our thoughts in the midst of the busyness of the season.

God Bless you!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

November Update!

2010-11-05T03:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
November is here and that means that the semester is coming quickly to it's end. You would think 5 weeks left is a lot but it goes by so quickly!
The students just got back from their outreaches to Gorlitz and Kaiserslautern, Germany as well as a week with the church plant in Esch, Luxembourg. Praise the Lord, the gospel was given out to many people and the churches were encouraged through the students. Miriam and I didn't go on an outreach this semester because there were enough teams for the amount of students we had. This was a blessing to us allowing me some valuable time to study and also an opportunity to teach the Wednesday night bible study at Calvary Chapel Siegen (www.calvarychapelsiegen.de/predigt-online/index.php - Oct.27th). Miriam also had some time to get things done that normally she would not have been able to do with school going on.
As many of you might know, we are flying back to the states on Thursday, Nov.11th, in order to attend my sister's wedding. We are looking forward to spending two weeks with my family and some time with our churches. This will also be the first time since 2003 that I am able to spend Thanksgiving with my family and the first ever for Miriam. With that, we hope we will be able to see many of you who live in California!
Things are going very smoothly here at the school and with my class. Please continue to pray for us and this school. We are constantly in need of your prayer support. Please also pray for God to bring the students and staff for our next semster!

We thank you all for your support and prayers, we thank God for you guys!
In Christ's love,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Quick Fall update

2010-10-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
Hope you are enjoying the start of fall, it is beautiful time of year!
Just wanted to update our blog seeing as I haven't done it in a while and there are some new things going on since the summer. Unfortunately we won't be able to share any new pictures due to the fact that our camera got stolen last semester and we haven't yet replaced it.
The semester has gotten off to a great start. We are smaller this semester than any previous semester I have ever known but the 25 students that we do have this semester are such a blessing. Their hearts are on fire for Jesus which makes for a good semester.
My Genesis class and Men's Discipleship classes are going well. Please pray for me that God would give me wisdom as I study and put together my notes. Genesis has so much in it and we have so little time to get through it all. I am continuing to get opportunities to teach in the local church's. This past Sunday I was able to teach in Siegen at the youth services.
Pray for Miriam the work load is a lot right now because of the weekend courses which we are offering. That means that she is doing her normal week of work and then added on to it translation for some of the the weekend sessions. Pray for all the staff that we would continue to remain rooted and grounded in Gods word and that we would not allow ourselves to get dried out by being to busy to spend our own time with the Lord.
We want to thank everyone who prays and supports us! God Bless you!
In Christ's love
Andrew and Miriam Rann

A quick Summer update!

2010-07-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
We want to write you and update you with what is going on here in Siegen. Miriam and I are here in Siegen getting ready for the upcoming semester as well as leading a bible study in Luxembourg. Now with my commentaries finally here I can begin to study for next semester and Genesis. Pray for my studies; pray that God would lead and direct my studies as I look at this foundational book. Also pray for us as a bible college, please pray that God would send us the students that he wants for next semester. Enrollment is a little down right now but we know that God is in control.
There are a couple of pressing prayer requests for this upcoming week. Firstly, the bible study in Luxembourg. Pray that God would bless the time with the people. Pray that they would be encouraged in their faith and built up. Pray that we would continue to have sweet fellowship and openness with one anther. Secondly, pray for me (Andrew) this saturday as I have been asked to do a short teaching at our friends wedding. Pray that God would give me wisdom as I put together my notes and that he would also give me the words to say. Thirdly, pray for Miriam as she takes over some of the responsibility from Inga-Lill. Pray that God would bless her with incite on how to keep the bible college running on a very practical level. Such as beds rooms that need to be painted and a million other things that Inga-Lill so faithfully took care of that Miriam needs to take care of now.
We thank you guys for your prayers. We hope that you are enjoying your summer!

Blessings from Germany!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Summer Adventures!

2010-05-26T03:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

First of all we want to say thank you to all of you who prayed for the Ministry Conference. Over 250 workers and their families came to the conference from all over western Europe. It was the biggest conference so fare and it was amazing to see all the different people and to realize what God is doing all over Europe through these people. It was a blessing to serve them and to know that we are helping to equip others for the work of the ministry.
But, you should also know that your prayers were a big part of the reason why the conference was such a success. So, Miriam and I just want to say thank you and that we thank God for all of you!!
Now that the conference and the school semester are finished, we are looking forward to the summer. This summer we have the blessing of leading a bible study in the country of Luxembourg. Our friends Jacques and Francoise and their child Matteo will be heading to Calvary Costa Mesa as interns under Pastor Brian Broderson. So, we could use your prayers as we lead "their" bible study while they are gone. It will be almost every second Thursday which means almost every other week we will need to drive the three hours to Luxembourg for the bible study. Please pray that we would have a great connection with the people there and pray for safety as we drive. Our car has given us problems lately. Pray that God would give me wisdom and incite into his word as I study for the bible study.
In addition to leading the bible study this summer, we also need to get ready for the upcoming semester. Miriam is processing applications along with the normal office work. There are also some practical things to do like painting and mending we get to do. I will be focusing on studying for the next class I will be teaching.
We also have good news to report: God seems to have given us a director. My good friend Arne Schultze-Petzold will lead the bible college for the next year. Pray that God would bless the staff and that we would really rally around our new leader. Pray for Miriam and I that we would be a blessing and encouragement to him. Please also pray for more students, without them this school doesn't run; pray that God would send us the students that he wants.

Oh, thank you for all prayers with regard to the outreach trip to Goerlitz. We went every day out on the street and witnessed and played worship. A young man named Frank who first approached us looking for drugs got saved. He couldn't help but hang around with us for the rest of the week. God was so Good to us. Continue to pray for Frank that the spiritual roots would go down deep.

We will keep you updated this summer with all that is going on. Unfortunately we lost our camera but hopefully we can still load pictures up of the bible study and everything else which is going on this summer.

Blessings from this side of the world!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Spring and new things

2010-04-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

Hi!
Spring is finally here - which means warmer weather! After a very long winter we are very ready for it to be warm again in Europe.
Miriam and I are in very good health and are enjoying the semester and all the students. We went up to Hannover for Easter to spend some time with Miriam's mom and the rest of our family and friends. It was a blessing and we came back refreshed. The pictures were taken in a small old park in Hannover.
This past weekend were were able to take the Interns to Berlin, just on a short adventure.
We were able to visit the Brandenburger Gate and the Reichstag (Germany's Capitol) in the city center of Berlin, as well as the Holocaust Memorial. One of our personal highlights was to see "Checkpoint Charlie" - the former border between east (communist) and west Berlin, controlled by the US and the East, of cause. Another highlight was the "Ishtar Gate", which was on of the gates of Babylon. It was cool to see something that the prophet Daniel saw and walked through during the excile. Also there is the fisode of the market place in Milet, a city Paul traveled through. On the right is a small sideshow with some pictures :)

Well, also the warmer weather couldn't come at a better time because we are coming up to our outreach week here at the bible college in Siegen. That means that all the students and some of the staff go out for a week and do ministry along side some church somewhere in Europe. This semester Andrew will be leading a team to Goerlitz, Germany. Goerlitz lies on the border between Germany and Poland. There the team will meet up with Pastor Stephan Spielau and his family. It will be a week filled with street evangelism and prayer. Pray for Andrew, Tuukka, Christians, Kristin and Jenny as they go.
Pray that our time on the streets will be blessed with divine appointments. Pray for strength as we share the gospel, pray against the attack of the enemy among the team and on their persons.

Miriam is also coming into a busy time which is why she is not going on the outreach with me. She is getting ready for the May conference that we will be having here in Siegen. There are a lot of organizational things to prepare and Miriam is the middle of them all.
Please pray that God would give her strength and wisdom as she works on the conference.

Obviously, there is a lot going at the bible college as we said in our last newsletter. And I know many of you have been praying for it and so we want to fill you in. We had a meeting as a bible college staff with the elders from the church. The meeting went really well for all those concerned. We could tell that God directed the meeting and that their was atmosphere of love and communication which was a blessing. We found out that the bible college will continue with some minor changes in the focus. The elders really shared how it is their heart for the bible college to continue and what changes they would like to see - all great to hear. We do not yet know who will be the next bible college director so we would covet your prayers for that. Also, pray for the staff which remains; pray that we would have the same mind and heart and that God would bless this time of transition in the school and in our personal lives.

Habakkuk 2:1-4 "I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see what He will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said; Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the proud his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith."

God Bless!

Andrew and Miriam Rann

Spring is around the Corner!

2010-02-18T06:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

Spring is just around the corner and all of us here in Germany can't wait for it because that means more sunshine and no more snow. :)
We have begun our Spring 2010 semester here at the Bible College in Siegen. This semester we have a smaller semester than usual. Normally in the spring we would have around 50 to 60 kids but this semester God has seen fit to bring 37 our way. There is an up side to this though and that is that no student can fall through the cracks!
So, we are looking forward to what God is going to do this
semester in a special way among the students and staff.

My responsibilities haven't changed much. I am teaching the Gospel of Mark again as well as running staff meetings, keep track of the AV equipment, and being an assistant to Dave Guzik. Miriam will be busy in the office like usual. Unfortunately, she is not teaching a class again as that was given over to one of the pastors wives new on staff. But God had other plans and she is mentoring two or three girls on a regular basis.

Some interesting things are happening here at the bible college that need prayer. Dave and Inga-Lill Guzik feel led to go back to California. So right now Pastor Nick and the elders are praying about the direction the bible college should take. We don't yet know what this means for us exactly but we know God has a plan and that he will direct us as we seek him. In same shape or form the Bible College will continue, but we definitely covet your prayers in this area.

Also, God does seem to be possibly opening some new doors for us. A local Calvary Chapel about 20 minutes away is looking for a new youth pastor and Miriam and I are praying about if that is where the Lord would lead us to serve! Exciting times!

The top picture is us with our dear friend Brent and his wife at CC Costa Mesa for the missions day. The other is my Mark Class and this last picture was taken at a Bundesliga soccer game. We went for my birthday and it was a lot of fun :)

Thank you for your prayers and your support! We greatly enjoyed seeing many of you during our time in CA.
May the LORD pour out His blessings upon you!
In Christ,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Isaiah 26:3, 4 "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Turst in the Lord forecer, For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."

Happy 2010!

2009-12-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hello Everybody!
Greetings from sunny Southern California. I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas. Miriam and I are enjoying our time with the family here in California and are looking forward to catching up with more of our friends who live here. Our plans for the next two weeks include going to the missions conference in Murrieta and also attending the missions day at Cast Mesa on the 9th of January. We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as we can in these last couple of weeks here.
God was very good to us this past semester and it ended with a great deal of activity - from teaching at the youth retreat to teaching at Calvary Chapel Siegen one Sunday morning. The pictures you see are pictures from the youth retreat. Thank you so much for all your prayers! God blessed abundantly. My class, as well as Miriam's woman's discipleship class, finished very well. God really worked in many of the girls lives throughout the semester.
The upcoming semester will start in February but Miriam and I need to get back earlier to begin to prepare for a pastors conference which will take place from the 19th to the 22nd of January in Siegen. Pastor's from all over western Europe will attend. Please pray for the preparation for the conference. Pray that the pastors are blessed and encouraged and also pray for our preparation for the upcoming semester. Thank you very much!

God Bless You!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

The leaves are changing!

2009-10-20T03:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Germany!
This is the time of year with the leaves changing color and I think once again upon James Witcomb Riley's poem, "The Frost is on the Pumpkin." which talks about the fall season.
God has so blessed us with a great semester so far. Things are running really smoothly. I (Andrew) just got back from outreach week. While I was in Austria, we served at the church in Spittal doing practical work while we were down there. The guys and I dug a trench for the church about 10 meters long and 90cm in depth. It was quite the change from books and studying to shovels and picks. Needless to say my hands hurt for awhile after. I also had an opportunity to teach at the Sunday morning service which was a real blessing for me to be able to do.
While I was there Miriam had the chance to go up and hang out with her mom for her birthday and get some much needed rest from the work at the office.
A great opportunity has been given to me to teach at a Calvary Chapel Freier Grund's winter youth retreat. It will be from December 4-6. I would definatly covet your prayers for this retreat. Pray that God would lead me as I study and prepare. Pray that it would be a time when the Holy Spirit can really impact and change the lives of these young people.
Continue to pray for Miriam and my class. Things are going well in both classes, Mark is a real blessing. This impressed me the other day in Mark 9:8, is Jesus enough for us. Are we content with just being in his presence or do we live from mountain top experience to mountain top experience. I pray that Jesus would be enough in your and my life and that we would enjoy but not put to much weight in those mountain top experiences.
Thank you for your prayers for us!
God Bless You!

The Rann's

Summer goes and Fall begins

2009-08-29T03:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!
Summer is quickly leaving us behind and the fall is looming large over the horizon. I think this was the fastest summer I have ever experienced but it was also a very blessed summer with lots of opportunities.

Miriam and I were blessed to have been able to go up to Sweden for a week with our good friends Hannah and Conor Berry. The main purpose of this spontaneous trip was to collect and bag clothes which were donated by clothing stores to a ministry called "Helping Hands." Helping Hands, collects and then ships cloths in giant shipping containers all over the world for people who are in need.(Right Picture) So the four of us jumped in one of the Bible Colleges vans and took off and drove 14 hours to Stockholm. We were able to sort through various types and sizes of clothes and pack what we thought other people would like and benefit from. We collected these clothes with the purpose of blessing missionaries at Calvary Chapel's Missions Conference in Austria (Left Picture). We were also able to bless the staff at the church and the bible college with some of the clothes. It was an unexpected blessing for us to take part in, and it reminded us of the passage in Matthew where the LORD said He would provide food and clothing for us. Talking to the missionaries while picking out their clothes, many said that they had been praying for God to provide clothing for them and their families since, and we all experience this, finances are tight. It was such a blessing to see and to partake in Gods blessing of His children and seeing His promises come true!

Miriam and I were also blessed to have had my parents come over to Europe and hang out with us. It was two weeks filled with the sights and sounds of London and the quaint and quiet German north coast. It was a great time of relaxation and catching up with my parents. (Lower Right) We are very thankful!

After that we thought are vacation time for the summer was over; because, we did not anticipate going to the missions conference this summer. We planned to do work which we needed to get done around the school and the tightness of the budget would have made it hard for us as well.
But God had other plans! How many times do we read in the scripture: "But God"... Well, we were blessed to have received a phone call from Alison and Robin Turner (the director of the castle) two days into the conference. They said there was no reason for us not to be there and if we were willing to drive down, they would gladly put us up for the rest of the week. After praying about it Miriam and I decided that God was wanting us to go and hear from Him. I am so glad we went because God spoke to both of us in such wonderful ways. He both encouraged us and exhorted us to press into Him more than we have been doing. I am so thankful to our heavenly father because He knows our needs better than we do and He is always so faithful to meet our needs as his children.
So needless to say we had a great summer! :)

I also was able this summer to get some studying in the gospel of Mark done for the upcoming semester. Miriam also was able to keep up with the work in the office since it was quiet around the school during the summer. But now we are in that transition time between the end of summer and the beginning of the next semester.
Please keep us in your prayers this next week as we prepare for the semester. Pray for Miriam as the office is a bee hive of activity right now with lots of work to be done, so that the semester starts off on the right foot. Also Pray for her as she will be teaching the Woman's Discipleship class this semester together with a friend; as she seeks to be used by the Lord in these girls lives. Also, pray for me as I continue to study through the gospel of Mark. Pray that God would hand pick every student who will be in our classes. Pray that we would keep our eyes upon Jesus and that our devotional lives would not suffer because of the busyness of our days but that we would set aside the first part of every day to the Lord. Our service is directly linked with our own time with the Lord and the enemy knows that, so please pray that we would be disciplined when it comes to this area of our lives.
We love all of you! Thank you so much for the encouraging words the last couple of weeks which we have heard from many of you. It has been an absolute blessing to us, you don't know how much it means to us!!!

God Bless You!!
The Ranns

June Newsletter

2009-06-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hello All!
Miriam and I are doing well.
The semester ended very successfully but with lots of goodbyes which made it sad.

The Lord was really faithful during my 1st and 2nd Thessalonians class. God always teaches me so much through my classes whether it is practical things like how to better prepare for my class. But also, I think I learned in a greater way the spiritual warfare that comes along with teaching Gods word. It felt so often like I was in the midst of a battle in my preparations and in my teaching, and so I learned in a greater way that prayer is the key to victory. For some reason sometimes I find it the hardest thing to pray but God it is always so faithful to meet us when we do take the time to pray.

The semester also ended on a good note for Miriam. She was able to jump from the semester to conference season very smoothly. The conference we had was an absolute blessing as over 300 people were here, mainly from Western Europe to get fed and get sent back out to where they are ministering. The theme of the conference was Practical Prophecy, ministering in the last days. We saw God do an awesome work in every session through his Holy Spirit! It is was a blessing for Miriam especially to be part of all the planning and preparations for the conference and to see it come to fruition, but then to see God use it in such a powerful way was a double blessing. God has really given us a unique opportunity here in our ministry to serve other servants and we are overwhelmed by Gods grace in our lives.

So that is what has been going on but the conference season is not over with. We will be having a worship conference for western European worship leaders this next week. Please pray for that! Pray that Miriam and I would have the strength we need to serve the people coming and pray that God would bless these guys and refill them for their ministries.

Also, last weekend Miriam and I had the opportunity to go to the city of Trier, Germany. It was a place I have always wanted to see as it is the place my family came from before they moved over to America. The reasons we went was because I felt like God was stirring my heart toward the city. There was at one time a Calvary Chapel home fellowship but our friends Jacques and his wife Francois have since moved back to Luxembourg where they are from and stopped the fellowship there in Trier. Miriam and I felt like we needed to go and spy out the land which we did. It was a blessing to fellowship with Jacques and Francois and to see the spiritual need in the city of Trier. So now being back in Siegen, Miriam and I know how to seek God about the city and see if he has a future for us in that city. So we would ask that you pray that God would speak to us and lead us as we seek to do his will in our lives.

"What is happening this summer?" you might wonder. Well, my parents are coming out at the end of July for two weeks. We are so looking forward to catching up and spending some quality time with them. For me, this summer will be a busy one as I will be studying and preparing for the gospel of Mark, which I will teach next semester. I also have the opportunity to fill in for same local Calvary's with some of their services. Miriam as well has the daily work in the office to keep up with so keep her in your prayers especially for wisdom and organizational ability.

We pray this finds you doing well!! Thank you for the prayers and the support in all different ways. We appreciate it so much!
With much love in Christ,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Spring Newsletter!

2009-04-07T02:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Easter is here, we hope that all of you will be blessed in the remembrance of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which has given us who believe eternal life and victory over sin.
Spring has arrived in Germany and we are excited about the prospects of sunshine and warmer weather. Just as the earth is being refreshed I can honestly say that it has been a time of refreshing in our lives as well. God has been working in our hearts through a number of situations transforming us more into his image and even though it is not always fun; God has and is being faithful to us in the midst of all of them.

I have been teaching and studying more than ever before. I have taught my normal 1 and 2 Thessalonians classes through some difficult chapters about the "Day of the Lord". It has been challenging but God has been super faithful to me in the midst of it. Also the last couple of weeks I have had the opportunity of teaching the interns about planning events and trips and leading an outreach team so very practical lessons. All of the times have been really blessed but please continue to pray for me as I teach. Pray that I would continue to be a vessel God would speak through and use in the ministry of teaching. As well as teaching,

Miriam and I had the opportunity of leading the interns on a trip to Wittenberg, Germany for the weekend. Wittenberg is the city that Luther lived, taught and preached in. It was a great pleasure to walk in Luther’s foot steps. taking a tour through his little city. The LORD brought so much change through this man's obedience and it was immensely encouraging to be where the Lord did such a great work!
The pictures we included in this block were taken in Wittenberg. You see the church Luther posted the 95 theses on, our little group with 'Luther' and a picture of us in front of Martin Luther's house.

Miriam is doing well and the office is running very well which is a big praise report. God has been very faithful to her in helping her remember the things she needs to remember and do in regards to different tasks in the office. For her things will pick up a lot as the end of the semester comes closer and with that the start of this year's Ministry Conference - May 19th till 22nd. Miriam coordinates the registration for this conference and so fare more than 100 people from all over Europe have signed up. The theme of this conference is: "How to serve God and people during the last days" and we are looking forward to great teachings and a very equipping time!

Other than that, coming back to the near future, our student's will go on Outreach from April 19th till the 26nd. Please pray for them as they are looking forward to sharing the gospel with many people. We have teams going to the Netherlands, Northern Germany, Leipzig, Belgium, Salzburg Austria and Rome Italy.

We ourselves are unable to go on an Outreach this semester. Miriam's youngest cousin has his confirmation on April 19th. Miriam's extended family is Lutheran in name only and we long to see them saved. This is why we are choosing to drive up to Hannover, so that we can take part of this big family event. Pray for us as we seek to be a light and a witness to them rather than going on an outreac.

So that is a quick update on what is going on with us right now. We hope you are doing well! Please write and let us know how we can pray for you. We would love to hear from all of you who read this!

In Christ’s love,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

February Newsletter

2009-02-25T01:14:00.000-08:00

Hello All !
We wanted to write and update you on what is going on in our lives. Well first off, God has been so good to us these first three weeks of the bible college semester. We couldn't have asked for a better start. All the students came in with no major problems and are getting settled into life here at the bible college and in Germany.
Things for Miriam are going well in the office with her new responsibilities. God has been super faithful in reminding her when she should go to the different German offices which is extremely important for the students and their visas.
For myself, I have had three classes now and I am really enjoying teaching through the books of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. I have over 20 students in my class and it is a blessing to be able to share God's word with them these last couple of weeks. So, God has been answering prayer. Specifically, God has answered one of the prayer requests that I had last newsletter and that is that he closed the door for me to go to Africa to teach at the Pastors conference there. I know that it is Gods will. I am sure he has another plan for me during the summer time when the school won't be in session. I am looking forward to seeing what he will do. So Praise the Lord!
So you ask what is up ahead for us? Well, Miriam is starting to help plan for the conferences that we have here in May right after the semester. Pray for wisdom, as she is the go to girl for sign ups. Be praying for me and and my class. That God would fill me with his spirit. Also, be praying for me as I help oversee the intern program here at the school. Pray that the Lord would show me how to be a good leader. So please be praying! Thanks!
I added these pictures so you can see the view we get from the balcony when it snows. It means I have to go shovel :)
Blessings to all of you. Send us an email when you have something we can pray for you for.

God Bless,
The Ranns

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T06:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
Miriam and I want to wish you all a very blessed new year. For those of you who live in the States, we want to say we miss you and hope that this finds you doing well! The year that passed was challenging but an absolute blessing to us. We are so grateful for your prayers and support during our first year of marriage and full time ministry together.

You may ask what has happened between that last time I wrote and now. Well quite a bit. We have finished our second semester at the Bible College serving together. This means that I wrapped up my Epistles of John class and Miriam finished all of the financial books for the school. She handed them over to the church which is always a little crazy at the end of a full year.

I just got my German Drivers License! Yeah! It requires a lot more studying than the American and is a lot more expensive. But, God was so good to me in providing both the ability and the resources to complete it. Thank you all!
So that is what has been going on and now on to what is going to happen in our lives.
Right now we are on break between the semesters which will begin again in February, but there is still plenty to do. Miriam will be doing the office work for the Western European Pastors Conference that will be here in Siegen later this month. She is also getting ready for the new semester, doing the administration work of the Bible College, which means that she will be handing the finances over to a new German girl in the office. Miriam is excited about the new challenge but she would also apprechiate you prayer for wisdom.
I am also getting ready for the new semester which means studying for 1st and 2nd Thessalonians as well as working on some audio, visual files from the previous semesters. Also looking ahead, I have been asked to go to Africa in June and teach with a number of other teachers from the Bible College at a Pastors Conference there. These Pastors have had no formal biblical training so its a great opportunity to further equip people for ministry. I am not entirely sure if I should go yet, so I would just ask for your prayers as I make my decision. This spring I will also enroll in official German classes for the first time. My German isn't horrible and I have done pretty well learning it as I go, but now that I have opportunity to take the classes to learn more grammar. Please pray that my studies go well so that I can more effectively minister to the Germans in their own language. Which is the goal!
Again, we pray that this finds you doing well and being blessed wherever the Lord has you. Let us know how we can pray for you. We would love to hear from you!
Blessings from snowy Germany!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Thanks!

2008-10-30T01:47:00.000-07:00

Hallo aus Deutschaland,
First of all we want to thank all of you for your prayers this past couple weeks for our outreach to Prague. It went really well and we know that it would not have been so blessed without your prayers. There is a lot to report and I am not entirely sure where to begin. But I will begin with what we did. Everyday we had the same goals. First goal was to go to class either at the universities language center or at the local high school to teach English and through English to share the gospel. We definatly accomplished this goal. In total during the course of the week we went into 20 different class rooms in both the high school and the university language center. The basic plan went like this. We would go over vocab words and then English idioms such as "raining cats and dogs", or "it cost a pretty penny." We then showed them the video from our skit or we performed it for them which we did in the high school class rooms. We then discussed with them what it meant. The Czech Republic is very atheistic and so the skit caused many good discussions where the gospel was presented. The second goal was to go in the afternoon and play sports with the local kids and through that to build a relationship with them and invite them to hang out with us in the evening times. On Friday night we had many kids from the high school and from the university show up to hang out with us. This facilitated even more opportunities to share the gospel. Miriam for example was able that night to minister to three different girls in German because their English was not that good. I also had the opportunity to share with a pair of young men. The week was blessed more than I could have imagined and God definatly used us so all of this to say Praise God!

Blessings, The Ranns

Prague!!!!

2008-10-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

Hello to All!
It is a new month and we wanted to update everybody with everything that has and will go on over here at the bible college in Siegen, Germany. I especially want to update you on where we will be going for our outreach week that we will be taking this semester.
I was blessed to meet a young man who is starting a church in Prague, Czech Republic during the missions conferenc in Austria. So after some prayer Miriam and I, with 12 others, decided that will be heading there on the 18th of October for a week long outreach. We will be teaching English and German in schools which will give us the opportunity to create relationships which will lead, Lord willing to sharing the gospel. We would be blessed if you would pray for us and the outreach. Maybe the LORD would also put it on your heart to support us in going to Prague. It will cost us about 400 euros in total to go.
So that is what is going to happen and now I want to fill you in on what has happened. The month of September was extremely busy with the new semester starting. We thank all of you very much for your prayers. We definatly felt them! This past month I started my class through the epistles of John. I have 8 students in my class as you can see from the picture below. It has been a absolute blessing being able to teach them Gods word. I feel like this semester I am developing more of my own teaching style which comes with a greater comfort behind the podium I think. I am starting to teach and not just lecture at them so I praise God that he is developing more and more this gift of teaching in me. Please continue to pray for me in this area as I seek Gods wisdom each week for my class and how best to communicate Gods word to the students.
Miriam as well has been very busy in the office making sure the students pay their bills and take care of there financial responsibilities here at the school. Besides doing the normal office work this semester, Miriam is trying to have a deeper relationship with some of the girls at the school. She wants to be able to pour into them what God has taught her through the years. So please pray for both of us as Miriam and I meet with different students through the week for prayer and times of discipleship. It is a great responsibility and blessing. Also be praying for Miriam as she will be taking over the office from our dear friend Anja who is leaving to go on the mission field in Israel. Miriam will be taking over the responsibilites that Anja has while giving up some of the financial work to anther person who will take over for her. Please pray for Miriam as she has a lot more to learn.
We hope all of you are doing well and are being blessed where ever the Lord has you. Let us know how we can pray for you.
Blessings from beautiful but rainy Germany!

Andrew and Miraim Rann

Semptember 2008

2008-09-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Germany,

What a wonderful summer we had in California visiting our family and friends. It was both relaxing and refreshing physically and spiritually. Miriam was able to get to know her mother in law and spend some quality time with her; which was the first time they were able to do that. While Miriam was hanging out with my mom; I was able to work. I realize more and more how our God provides for us and I am blown away by his provision in our lives. We truly serve a caring God!! Not only did we see God care for us in our provision but also in our sickness. Miriam struggled with stomach problems all summer and we were able to go to the hospital here in Germany and the doctors here were able to successfully diagnose it. She is feeling much better now that she knows what she can and can't eat. Thank you for your prayers! We were also able in the month of August to go to Austria for the missions conference where we met a lot of old friends and got spiritually topped off for the next year of ministry. It was a blessing because I went to the conference with questions on my heart and the Lord answered me in his still small calming voice. Praise the Lord!
It is also the start of a new semester for us at the bible college and we are both busy getting ready. Miriam has been working hard in the office and I have been preparing my class. I am teaching through 1, 2, 3 John this semester and am looking forward to all that these books will have to offer for me as a teacher and to the students who are in my class. I will also be running the DVD project this semester. We are video taping classes like Genesis, Song of Solomon, Acts and World Religions Class. The whole point is so that we have these classes in German so that Germans who can't come to the school can still take bible college classes and be equipped by God's word.
So we wanted to update all of you with what is going on in our lives. For specific prayer requests check out our prayer requests. Thank you for your prayers and your support we love you guys! Let us know how we can pray for you or just let us know what is going on.

In Him!!!
Andrew and Miriam Rann

May Newsletter

2008-05-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hello to all from Germany!

I hope this finds everyone doing well. The month of April has come and gone by so quickly. It was a busy month for Miriam and I. We had our schools speakers week as well as our outreach week. Both went very well and we felt the LORD blessing. Outreach week for Miriam and I consisted of going down to the castle in Austria. This is where Miriam went to Bible College and served in the office for almost three years. Dave Guzik asked us join him so that I could both audibly and visually record his church history class. Now people will be able to watch it and be blessed through what God has done in church history. Miriam was able to keep up with church and conference emails during this time.

Other teams from our school went to Poland, Scotland, Ireland and to other cities in Germany to help the churches there. Everyone got home safely and now the school is coming upon its last week and a half before graduation.

I only have one more teaching class left, before I am done with the book of Ephesians. This last week we will cover the spiritual armor that is found in Ephesians 6. So I am excited to sit down and study up on this very important spiritual passage for our Christian lives.

It has been interesting being the Dean of Men for me. I learned how to reach out to guys that I have nothing in common with and how to correct someone in love. Like always it has been a learning semester!

Miriam is doing well. She is busy helping putting a conference together that will have over 200 people attending from all over Europe. The conference name is "Servant Hood" and it will be attended by pastors, church staffers and lay people who want to get involved in serving at their home churches. A big team of pastors and ministers from different Calvary Chapel's will come to teach. Our prayer is that God would pour out His Spirit and raise up many future servants in the churches here in Europe which, for the most part, are under staffed and needing lots of lay help. We would covet your prayers for her as she does a lot of the organization and for the people who will attend the conference.

We would also covet your prayers for coming home to California this summer (June 12th till Aug 1st). We are coming to attened my sister's wedding and I also will be working a little bit for my dad's company. We would appreciate your prayers as we reconnect with our supporting churches and meet up with friends and make new ones.

We are really thankfull for your prayers over these last few months; we have felt them and the Lord has done a great work both through us and in us. Thank you also for praying for our marriage. Being in ministry and being newly married is not always easy but God has been so faithful! God bless you and we will see you all in California very soon!

In Christ,

Andrew and Miriam Rann

March Newsletter

2008-03-04T03:03:00.000-08:00

Greeting from Germany to All!
It was a busy month of January and February but things are finally started to get into a rythum for us as a newly married couple and with new responsibilities. We are doing really well and the apartment is finally together so we feel like we actually have a home now! Posted below are some pictures of the apartment. The apartment is 80 quad meters which is a decent size apartment for Germany. It's a two bedroom place, or three rooms for you Europeans, with a nice kitchen, a guest room, a big living room area and tiny but totally new bathroom. Putting the place together we really felt like there was spiritual warfare. We felt stopped and defeated every time we just tried to hang a cabinet in our kitchen. For those of you who don't know, here in Germany you have to build your own kitchen. The people living in a place before you take everything with them, cabinets and all appliances. So this meant we had to buy every thing and build it ourselves. But with the LORD's help and His grace we finally finished putting up the last major stuff and it looks great now!
Thats all about the home front but we have also been busy with the new school semester. This semester I am the Dean of Men here on campus. So that means I am in charge of discipling the guys one on one, praying for them and just being there when ever they need me. I also meet with the dorm stewards or what some might call the RA's on a weekly basis to see how everything is going among the guys. Along with that I am still in charge of running the video program that we have here at the school for German students that can't come to the campus. I am weekly teaching a class through the book of Ephesians as well. What an amazing book! I have been truly blessed teaching it as we see the spiritual blessings that we as believers in Christ Jesus and what is the biggest blessing we have in Christ Jesus? SALVATION!!!! Its been going really well so far with the 11 students which are in my class but, please be praying for me and my preparation as well as for the students. It's weird but it's not like teaching a normal class because there is a whole spiritual element to it and every class must be prepared not just with notes but also with prayer, so please be praying.
Miriam has been learning all about the office and getting used to everything. She does the finances for the school as well as helping to put together a conference for all church staffers here in western Europe. The conference will be here in Siegen in May. It's called 'Servanthood' and a big team from CA will come out to teach it. We expect at least 200 registrations. Please be praying for her as she helps organize it and for all the attendees as this conference will have an impact in all different parts and ministries within western Europe. So that is what has been going on the last month with us.
I hope this updates everyone a little bit. I never want to leave all of my friends and family in the dark for as long as I have! Soooo SORRY!!!
Please also be praying for us with regard to finances as the dollar is so weak and our money doesn't go very far. Please let us know how you all are doing; We do honestly pray for the things people ask us to pray for them about.
I hope this finds you all doing well. May God richly bless you!
Sincerely and in Christs love,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

Busy!!!!

2008-02-18T03:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,
We are so sorry it has been awhile since we were able to write to you and let you know how things are going but life has been so crazy lately with getting the bible college going, teaching, and building an apartment and learning a new job for Miriam that we have not been able to get on the page to write anything. But Miriam and I have posted some new prayer requests that we would appreciate your prayers for right now. As soon as I can, I will give more detail and post pictures of the new apartment and my Ephesians class. Thank you for all your prayers!
In Christ,
Andrew and Miriam Rann

P.S Everything for now on will be translated into German for our German friends and family

Monday Night Teaching

2007-12-19T03:22:00.000-08:00

Hi All!
The other night I had the opportunity to teach David Guzik's Monday night class in front of the church and I thought it would be a good to post it for you guys.

http://calvarychapel.com/ccbcgermany/mp3/OT316_Judges_14.mp3

Getting Married

2007-12-07T05:07:00.000-08:00

Hello to All!
I just want to send out a quick personal prayer request today and that is that Miriam and I are getting legally married this weekend in Denmark. You say wait, I thought it was in January? It still is! No worries! But here in Germany you need to have two weddings, one legal and then you can have your optional church wedding which Miriam and I naturally want to do. So Miriam and I are having our legal paperwork for the marriage signed on Monday in Denmark. You ask why in Denmark? Well because Germany wanted quite a few things from me and then they wanted it to go before a judge. Miriam and I said no thanks to all of that hassle so we are going to Denmark to fill out the paperwork with her mom and her aunt and uncle this weekend. I would just ask for traveling mercies as we drive and then take a ferry to get to Denmark. Oh, also pray for Miriams' aunt and uncle they aren't saved. We want to be a light to them this weekend!
God Bless! Thanks!
Andrew and Miriam

November Newsletter

2007-11-26T01:05:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my friends and family,
It has been almost two months since I last updated you all on what is going on. I apologize for that! It has been an extremely busy couple of months. So I am going to try and fill you in on what has gone and what is going on.
The biggest thing that happened in the last few months was the outreach trip to Salzburg, Austria. There is going to be a new church plant in the summer there and so we went to evangelize and pray for the people who are starting this work. We planned on being on the streets talking to people every day but the entire team of 5 got the flu. So with us all sick and running to the restroom from time to time we couldn't go out on the street in the beginning of the week. But we could pray and so we did a lot of praying during that time and I think it was God preparing our hearts and the peoples hearts through prayer. God did a great work when we did go out on the street every conversation with people was over an hour long. One conversation with a girl named Lindsey was especially good. She showed me her scares from trying to kill herself while I was sharing the gospel with her. By the end of the conversation she was really quiet and emotional and I asked if she wanted to receive the Lord which she said no. Be praying for her even now and ask God to remind her of those things which he spoke to her about. The trip was a really blessed time.
Last Saturday I was invited to teach at a home group in the city of Koblenz, Germany. They asked me to teach through Romans 5. This is not the easiest chapter in the bible to teach through but the Lord used it because I got to share the gospel through the comparison of Adam to Jesus. The most exciting thing of the night was when a young Muslim girl renounced Islam and became a Christian!!! How cool is that! Please be praying for this new Christian as she was recently forced to marry her cousin and it is a horrible situation for her physically and emotionally.
Along with those kind of special things, I am still weekly meeting with my class and going through the book of Joshua. These guys have become really special to me and I feel like I am there friend as much as there teacher so I am really happy the Lord has blessed the relationships with my guys this semester. Please be praying for me as I decide what I am going to teach next semester as I will no longer be teaching the men's class but will be teaching a bible class for the entire college.
So I have tried to give you an overview of everything that has been going on in the ministry here. Me personally I am doing well! I have experienced so many blessings from God this semester. Miriam and I are doing well but are busy and a little stressed with the final things that need to happen with regard to the wedding. So please be praying for us!
I thank all of you for your prayers and for all the financial support, its such encouragement to know people are behind you in ministry. Please let me know how you are doing! I will also be updating this with smaller more blog like updates from now on so you will know more about what is going on. God bless all of you!
Your brother in Christ,
Andrew

October Newsletter

2007-10-03T03:26:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Germany!
It is the start of a new month; so it is time to say hi to everyone and to let you know what is going on with my life and the work here at the bible college.
It was a very busy first month of the bible college which seemed like it never slowed down until this last week. I appreciated all of your prayers this month; I could defiantly feel them. The first three weekends were the busiest with a planning of a school BBQ that got rained out but was still was a very blessed day nonetheless. Also, I got to lead a team of 8 others down to Austria to do an outreach down there with Calvary Chapel Spittal and a local baptist church. It was a huge event with some different bands and a huge area for skateboard ramps and other activities. We hung out mainly and tried to speak to the local kids about the Lord. I had personally along with my friend Janos who is German quite a few conversations with kids about the Lord and all of the kids were open to the gospel; we did not get the opportunity to pray with any of the kids but I know that through the outreach quit a few kids got saved. Praise the Lord! Along with that my men's discipleship class has been going very well. We meet every Thursday night at my house and they have been awesome times of prayer and lots of good fellowship around the word. Please be praying the guys as some of them are not strong Christians and really need the Lord to draw them closer to himself. So it has been a busy couple of weeks but the Lord has really taught me that I can't rely upon my own strength but that I need to be relying upon his strength daily for all of the things that I need to do here at the bible college.
On a personal note Miriam and I are doing really well. We are planning and getting everything ready for the wedding in January. It is awesome to see how all of the plans are coming together so well but we would appreciate your prayers because there is a lot to do in the next three months before the wedding. We would ask for your prayers especially for strength and wisdom during all of the preparations.
Also please keep my finances in your prayers because the dollar is not strong against the euro right now so it cost a lot to do anything here in Europe because of that fact. Also keep me in your prayers as I prepare to go on outreach week. This is the week that we take once out of every semester and go somewhere around Europe to do ministry. I am praying about going to Austria again, there is gong to be a church plant in Salzberg and we would like to go down and help them.
I thank all of you for reading this and for praying for me! God Bless You where ever he has you right now!
Your brother in Christ,
Andrew Rann

Austria Outreach

2007-09-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!
I just wanted to send this out and ask for prayer. This weekend I am leading a team down to the Calvary Chapel Castle in Austria. We will be helping out with a youth oriented outreach. There will be bands and other activities to help in reaching out to the kids in that area of Austia. Please being praying for the outreach! Pray that we can evangelize and share with the kids our faith; and that through this outreach God would draw many of these young people to himself. Also, pray for safe travels for us as we drive down there on Friday and then back to the bible college on sunday. Thank you for your prayers!
Your brother in Christ,
Andrew

New School Year

2007-08-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hello to all my friends and family;
It has been a good summer back at home in California with my family and I also met up with many of you my friends. But now it's time for a new fall semester here at the bible college in Germany. I have been back in Germany for a few weeks now. Most of the time I have been in Hannover, Germany visititing my fiance. I also was given the opurutnity of teaching the morning devotions at Calvary Chapel Hannover's youth retreat on a island in the North Sea. It was such a blessing to be with all of these teenagers from the church and to share a 20 minute devotion every morning with them. The theme of the camp was Jeremiah 29:11 "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." Every morning, I went through the life of a different individual in the Old Testament and we looked at their lives through Jeremiah 29:11. I thank all of you who knew about and prayed for it; we definatly felt your prayers. But now I am back from Hannover in Siegen getting ready for the next semester here at the Bible College.
The fall semester is always larger than the spring semester and so we are expecting around 50 students this next semster. I will once again be teaching the Men's Discipleship Class here at the bible college. I decided to once again go through the life of Joshua with the guys as I think you see a great model for our Christian lives in the life of Joshua and throughout that entire book. Along with that this semster I will be in charge of video taping a number of classes so that we can get our classes out to people who can't come to the bible college for three and a half months. Along with doing that David Guzik asked me to lead a special outreach trip down to the castle in Austria for September 14th 15th and 16th. There will be a youth outreach with skateboarding and music bands from around Europe and so me and another staff memeber along with a number of students are going to pile into a bus and go down and help with this outreach. I would apreciate your prayers for the outreach. So the next couple of weeks will be very busy but I am looking forward to them as well. I would really apreciate all of your prayers for all of the thing that I just mentioned. I hope this email finds you all doing well and being blessed wherever the Lord has you right now.
Always your brother in Christ,
Andrew Rann

May Newsletter

2007-05-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Everybody!
It feels like its been a long time since I posted a newsletter probably because a lot has happened this past month with the outreach and everything. And I realize that many of you were praying for me and the team during our outreach and let me tell you Thank You! I probably should have posted this update sooner to let you know how the trip went so I apologize for that. But, I will start with what happened on the Outreach. We went down to Mondtabelluna, Italy where there is a healthy church of about 100 people. The pastor met us at the airport on Saturday the 14th of April and that night we went and fellowshiped with the College group and me and a couple of others shared our testimonies with them. For the rest of the week this group of people met us almost every night to hang out when we had nothing going on. On Monday we had a day just to hang out and see that part of Italy before we got to work for the rest of the week and so we decided take the train into Venice which was beautiful to see again. On Tuesday the work began for us; they needed our help to build a play ground which included painting the boarding wall with clouds and trees and to lay a cement slab in the back as well as to repaint and stencil a good part of the inside of the church. The plan was to do this for Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and a little bit Saturday before we left to come back to Germany. Thursday was going to be the day that we went to Feltre, Italy where there is a Calvary chapel and to do some evangelism but the weather on Thursday called for rain so we had to stay in Montabelluna and continue to work inside of the church there. By Thursday night we had almost completely finished the work that they had given us to do. So Friday they decided to take us up to the Alps with a number of people. I had hoped to do some evangelism some time during the week but the pastor said that many Italians don't speak English very well and so because of that with no Italian speakers on the team he thought it wouldn't be fruitful. So the trip became a work outreach but it truly blessed the church there. In the end it was a truly great time of working and of fellowship. It was a great trip with only one real incident and that is that my co-leader lost her passport and had to take a train back up to Germany but besides that it was a really blessed trip. With the finished playground looking like the picture you see here below. Now to quickly tell you what is going on with all of the ministry at the school. My class is starting to be wrapped up we have one more class this Friday the 11th and then we are done. I think we all have been very blessed by going through the book of Joshua. Besides teaching my class lately I have been going every second week with another staff member from the school and teaching a bible study for the drug and alcohol rehabilitation ministry that they have here in Siegen. There is only one guy in the program right now but it has been a good time of getting in the word and just sharing from our hearts as we look at the word of God together. Please be praying for Daniel as he is a about half way through the program. Pray that he continues to look to the Lord for strength to fight the temptations to go back to the world which has nothing but emptiness for him again. The school is wrapping up and there is a lot to do to wrap everything up so I am looking a head to the next couple of weeks being busy. Thanks again for all of your prayers! God Bless You!
Your brother in Christ,
Andrew Rann
P.S Colossians 3:16 (Great verse to meditate upon)

April 2007 Newsletter

2007-03-31T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hello to Everyone!
I hope this finds everyone doing well! I am doing very well! God continues to bless my life and continues to bless the work here at the bible college. The semester never gets dull with something new always coming up and this is true for the next couple of weeks as the college is preparing for outreach week. A lot has changed for me and where I will be going on outreach. First, I thought that I was going to go to Nice, France but the Lord changed my plans and now I will be helping to lead a team down to Montebelluna, Italy which you will find pictures and an article of in the latest issue of the Calvary Chapel Magazine. We will be going down there to do practical work that the church needs help with and evangelism on the streets of Montebelluna. Please pray for the 9 of us as we go down there and seek to serve the Lord.
With planning the outreach trip I of course have my other responsibilities. The Men's Discipleship class is going well we have gotten through chapter 12 in the book of Joshua. Below you see a picture of me and the five students who are part of my class. The Lord has been impressing upon me through the book of Joshua his faithfulness to the children of Israel and reminding me of his faithfulness to us as well. The children of Israel were defeated at Ai and also compromised with the Gibeonites who the Lord had commanded the children of Israel to destroy; but after all of their failures the Lord was so gracious and faithful to the children of Israel. As 2 Timothy 2:13 says "If we are faithless , He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" I hope that blesses you as it has me!
Along with studying and grading papers and all that comes with being here at the bible college the interns took a couple of days off and drove to London, England for three days. We had a great time of fellowship and seeing the sites.
So that is everything that is going on here at the bible college. Miriam and I are figuring out what paper work we need to get married here in Germany. Please pray that while I am home this sunmer that I will have no problems getting the paper work that I need to get married here. Oh, on that note as well I will be coming home this summer for the months of June and July to catch up with my family of course and to see many of you hopefully.
Please stay in contact with me, its always great to recieve emails from friends and family. I also want to thank those who have been supporting me financially and through prayer its a great blessing to know that people are behind you THANK YOU!!! If I can pray for any of you please let me know!
Your brother in Christ,
Andrew Rann

March 2007 Newsletter

2007-03-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

Hello from Siegen, Germany
Well this semester has started off absolutely wonderful. There has been a real sense of family so far this semester and everyone has connected so well so fast. I can't believe a whole month has already flown by.
My Men's Discipleship class is going really well. There are five guys in the class and it has been a blessing hanging out with these guys and going through the book of Joshua with them. I really think the Lord is blessing the class and its so nice to be teaching and to feel like you are really connecting with the students while you are teaching. We have only gotten through the first three chapter of the book of Joshua and this past Friday we only got through the third chapter before our time expired on us. The third chapter, is a great chapter about faith and stepping out and having the Lord go before us as we step out in faith; and then to connect it back to passages like Hebrews 11:6 and see that the Lord wants us to be people of faith is a great lesson for us to learn today. I would encourage you to read this chapter in the book of Joshua its a blessing. Along with teaching the class I am the T.A for David Guziks class's which means I grade papers. So I would ask that you would be praying for wisdom for me as I have a lot of papers to grade each week. This next Sunday the 11th of April, I will be teaching down in Calvary Chapel Giesen for their Sunday morning service. I would ask that you would also be praying for that for me as I prepare the study and please pray for my nerves as well because this is the first Sunday morning I will ever have taught. Also, this semester I am planning on going to Nice, France for my outreach trip so please be praying for that as I seek the Lord regarding leading a team down there to France. France is a very dark place spiritually and for a few of us to go down there and bless the church that is there by doing some work around the church and evangelism in the city would be a huge blessing for them. So please be praying for that!
Well, I pray that this newsletter finds you all doing well. Please stay in contact with me and let me know what is going on in your life and how can I pray for you. God Bless!
Your Brother in Christ,
Andrew Rann

I am engaged!!

2007-02-21T11:01:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
I have some very exciting news to share with everyone, and that is that last saturday Miriam Siesespeck and I became engaged to be married. I rented a car with the help of my good friends the Grunicks and Miriam and I drove down to Heidelberg, Germany. It was a beautiful day there in southern Germany. I took her up to the castle and after some searching on my part I found the perfect spot in my mind and asked her to become my wife.
Our plans right now are to get married in August. We will have something in both Germany and California so that our friends and family can celebrate with us. We will let you know more as we know! :)
May God richly bless you,
Andrew

Back at the Bible College

2007-01-27T02:51:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,
First of all I guess I will explain this blog page. I decided that this would be better for people to come and look at and know what I am doing here in Germany, then sending out newsletters each month. This will allow me to post better pictures and keep you better informed about what is going on here at the Bible College and to keep you better informed about what is going on in my personal life. I also put in the corner of the main page all of my prayer requests. Any way, since I got back to Germany I have been busy. I went up to spend sometime with my girlfriend and some close friends in Hannover, Germany. I also got to serve and help the church there in Hannover with some small maintenance things that they are working on there at the church. Please keep Calvary Chapel Hannover in your prayers as they are praying and seeking the Lord for a new building. There church has outgrown there current facility and they desperately need a bigger one. I have been back in Siegen for almost a week now. We have been busy here because each January during this time we have a pastors conference for all of the Calvary Chapel pastors in Western Europe. So for the past few days I have been cooking breakfast in the mornings for them and doing dishes after each meal. It has been a blessing getting to know these guys and to serve them. Now that the pastors conference is done we are getting ready for the upcoming semester. The next semester begins the 5th of February, and we have much to do to get ready here at the school and I personally have much to do to get ready for my Men's Discipleship class. As I have written in previous letters I will be teaching through the book of Joshua. So please keep that in your prayers as I prepare to teach.
I pray that all my friends and family all over the world are doing well and are in good health. Thank you so much for your prayers and support you guys meen so much to me.

God Bless,
Andrew Rann

P.S A portion of scripture that has been ministering to me lately is Psalms 37. I hope that it does for you as well. BE BLESSED!!