Newsletter August 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

We came back from the Ukraine on August 17 rested from our vacation and satisfied with the mission and benevolence work we had been able to do (see July Newsletter). The next phase for us will be to get prepared for the birth of our baby. This will also mean that I will slightly reduce my working load or at least that I will not be accepting any new function until the end of the year. The due date of our baby is November 29.

Preparing for Our Baby

Enjoying a trip on Lake Thun.

When twenty years ago husbands were most of the time waiting in the waiting room until their wives gave birth to a baby, this has changed significantly today. Husbands also take part in the birth process standing at their wives side to support them while they are giving birth. They experience the pain of their wives, but also the joy, when the baby is born. That is also what I, as a future father, intend to do. Lena and I are enjoying this time before the birth, but we are also a bit anxious as the day approaches.

We have been trying to get much information about any topic that is related to having a baby. One book that we have found helpful, which is written in English, is entitled “On Becoming Babywise.” We are glad for the items that we can buy in second hand stores or for baby clothes from couples whose baby has grown out of the seize of newborns. We have started getting busy to get everything we need for our baby that is soon to be born.

Andrea and Kilian’s Wedding Celebration

Wedding Day

In April Andrea and Kilian were officially married at the registry office. On August 1 they celebrated their wedding having about three hundred guests who attended for the general part of the wedding. After that a few dozen guests were invited for the dinner party. The choice to have the wedding on August 1 has a special significance in Switzerland because it the national holiday and the day of independence (comparable with July 4 for the US). Who are Andrea and Kilian? Andrea, 29, grew up in church. She is the oldest daughter of Danielle who has four daughters. Andrea’s baptism is back more than ten years ago. Andrea’s husband Kilian used to be an atheist before he got to know Andrea. Now he not only enjoys the fellowship of Christians, but he also has moved his position away from atheism. He is very supportive of Andrea’s belief. He sees the difference between traditional faith and the faith that we as a church try to live which relies heavily on Scripture. Andrea and Kilianwant to have a lot of children for which reason they have, for Wedding day the most part with their own hands, built a large house during the last few years. They have announced that their first child is on its way.

Assembly Place Situation

Since August we have had a new assembly place where we will meet on most Sunday mornings in fall and winter. Are we bored so we change assembly places every few months? Not really. We were asked to leave the senior citizen’s residence meeting room a few months ago because they thought that we were too large a crowd, attendance of 30 people, going in and out of the senior residence. For that reason we have been meeting at the Pöstli for Sunday morning and Wednesday night, whenever a room was available. As an alternative we found a room in the Höchhus which is a restaurant about 100 metres from the Pöstli which shares its parking lot with the Pöstli. The Höchhus is an old house, built in the 13th or 14th century, on the foundation of the old fortress of Stevansburc which was built in the year 1133 (see May Newsletter).

Now the Höchhus has become the major assembly place. Why have we changed our assembly place again? By fall the Pöstli has been occupied on Sunday mornings by clubs and private people who move their meetings from the outside into a building. On Wednesday evening we will be able to stay at the Pöstli, which is also by far the cheapest option.

News on People

We have now three women in the church who are pregnant: Lena, Regina, and Andrea. The due dates are: for Lena the end of November, for Regina the end of December, and for Andrea the month of March 2010. Mathias left Switzerland to spend three months in Buffalo, NY. My father had to undergo an eye surgery because he was diagnosed with cataract. The surgery was quick and effective for which we thank God.

Prayer Requests

• Our three pregnant women in the church: Lena, Regina, and Andrea
• Mathias and his stay in the US
• Our teenagers
• Ueli, a church visitor, who is about to go to the military service for several months
• Margrit and Johanna who still go to my parents’ home for Bible study

Any funds can be sent to our overseeing congregation:

Park Avenue Church of Christ; 5295 Park Avenue; Memphis, TN 38119

Grace and Peace,

Ivan + Lena

Newsletter July 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

Lena and I have made another trip to the Ukraine this summer before Lena is expecting to give birth to the baby in November. Besides spending vacation in Bila Tserkva, we were also involved in mission efforts in Lena’s home church. What this mission involved, I would like to talk about in this letter. I will start the letter with a highlight in Thun before we travelled to the Ukraine.

The St.Gallen Church visits the Thun Church

The St. Gallen church visits the Thun church.

On July 12 my brother René was invited to preach at the Sunday morning worship assembly in Thun. After the assembly we had a fellowship meal. We had almost the whole St.Gallen church with us that day. There were present from St. Gallen my brother’s wife, Brigitte, their daughter Anja and her boyfriend Andy, a regular visitor in the church in St. Gallen. Also, we enjoyed the fellowship of a young man, Marco, who was baptised a few years ago and his girlfriend, a visitor to the church in St.Gallen. At this time the congregation where my brother works has a membership of almost ten Christians. My brother and his wife established the congregation in St.Gallen in 1995 after my brother had graduated from IBC in Florence, Alabama. The congregation in Thun was paying nearly all the cost of living during that period of time. There were no school fees to be paid for the study at IBC. We were encouraged by the fellowship with many of the members of the St. Gallen church that day and I hope that we were an encouragement to them.

Vacation and Ministry in the Ukraine

Wednesday night Bible class in the library room.

As always we stayed at the one bedroom apartment where Lena’s mother has been living since Lena was a child. I preached on two Sundays and taught two Wednesday night Bible classes in the congregation in Bila Tserkva. Lena translated my lessons into the Ukrainian language. We were glad to meet Joe and Betty Cannon from Memphis, Tennessee, who have been putting a lot of efforts into this church plant visiting it once a year. The church now has a remarkable library with thousands of books and hundreds of video cassettes which is in part due to the efforts of Betty.

Certificates handed over to Lena at the Press Conference.

Lena and I also submitted the collection of money from the exhibition in Thun to the chief of an organisation that helps orphans and Tschernobyl victims. The total sum of money was 810 Francs which is about $700. In Addition, we brought clothes that Martha, 62, had knitted and caps that my mother, 80, had made. The chief of the aid organisation was very grateful and invited us to visit several orphan homes so that we could see where the money is donated. She also invited us to attend a press conference where, besides a few newspaper reporters, some 50–100 people were present. Lena and I were honoured with a medal of honour and we were given certificates of appreciation for all the church members that participated in helping at the exhibition. Lena and I were asked to speak to the crowd at the conference. My comments focused on the purpose of such a conference. It should especially be done to honour all the children that need help and to honour God who has given us hands and feet so he can use us as his instruments in reaching out to these children. I was glad to give a short message to point people to give honour to God. Lena was making some closing comments after that and thanked for everyone’s help and efforts.

News on People

My father had an operation on his hip because of a broken bone. All went well and my father recovered quickly. Regina announced that she is pregnant and is expecting her baby at the end of December. Her first child, Robin, was born on December 3, 2008. Martha retired this summer, but she will continue to work one day a week in the large grocery store Migros for a few more years. That will help her to pay her bills.

Prayers

• Ueli who continues to come to worship service regularly
• The teenagers of the church who have not submitted their lives to Christ in baptism yet
• Lena’s and Regina’s pregnancies
• Continue to pray for Margrit and Johanna – my parents still study the Bible with them
• Mathias, a teenager, who still suffers depression

Any funds can be sent to our overseeing congregation:

• Park Avenue Church of Christ
• 5295 Park Avenue
• Memphis, TN 38119

Grace and Peace,

Ivan + Lena

Ivan + Lena Voser Ziegeleistrasse 34a 3612 Steffisburg, Switzerland

E-Mail: voserivan@hotmail.com Phone number: 0041 33 534 57 37

June 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

As many people will be going on vacation in the months of July and August, this will be the perfect time for Lena and me to leave, too. This year once again we will visit Lena’s mother in Bila Tserkva and I will probably preach at least on one Sunday morning in church.

Preaching in Lucerne

Giving a message during the Sunday assembly in Lucerne

Lena and I were pleased to visit the congregation in Lucerne on June 14. Since the time the church plant was started in the early 90ies, the congregation in Lucerne has been meeting in a Judo centre on the top floor of a building in the centre of the city. The congregation rents the meeting place only for Sunday morning and Wednesday night. I preached on Psalm 100 on entering the gates to worship God with joy and thanksgiving. After the sermon the congregation got together in a circle to have a discussion on the sermon. Comments could be made and questions could be asked. The comments I received, were very positive. I am always looking forward to coming back to this really good congregation with a new opportunity to give a lesson.

It was interesting to see how the membership has changed over the last few years through people who have moved into the area. Now the congregation of about 15-20 members consists of more than 50% of foreigners. Some of the foreigners who moved into the area, did not attend a Church of Christ before, but were simply looking for a place to worship. They found in this church a very good congregation. After the worship service we had a fellowship meal at a children’s playground near the church meeting place. During the time of fellowship at lunch, I was able to talk to three new members who all come from Germany.

Lena and I appreciate very much the work of Mathias and Therese Walser who are in their mid forties and have done some ground work. Mathias is only on part time support for which reason he particularly appreciates that I preach for this congregation occasionally.

Our most faithful visitor Ueli

Ueli (in the background) and others are joyful on the morning of James' baptism last March.

We enjoy it how Ueli, 19, comes along with James and Martine almost every Sunday morning. Ueli seems to be a very mature young man who just finished successfully the exam as electro fitter. In October he will serve in the army for 10 months. His other option would have been to go to the military for only 17 weeks. If that were his choice, he would have to continue to serve in the army in the following years for three weeks at a time.

Ueli’s parents are part of the official Protestant Church. They have a hard time understanding why their son Ueli cannot go to the Protestant Church at their village. Ueli helps in the youth work of that church during the week, but on Sunday he attends worship service with us. He has talked to a number of young people about his convictions which are

no longer based on traditional Protestantism. He, for example, sees the need for baptism as moved by faith in Christ which is in contrast to what he was taught. The Protestant Church baptizes children after birth which is when Ueli was baptised. It is good to see him grow in his faith and knowledge so as to cling to the biblical teaching more strongly rather on some church tradition.

Visiting Missionaries from Ohio who Support the congregation in Thun

Ben O'Neil is preaching during the assembly time

On Sunday, June 21, we had Ben and Jane O’ Neal as our visiting missionaries from Pickerington, Ohio. Ben and Jane return almost every year to Switzerland and Italy to support churches. Since January 2009 their home church has been supporting the work in Thun. We are very glad for their special love and effort that they have for the congregation in Thun. Ben preached in English which was translated into German.

Last Exhibition Saturday to benefit orphans in the Ukraine

We had one last opportunity to collect money for the children in the Ukraine on Saturday, June 6. The total collection of the four Saturdays totals 603.80 Fr which is more than 610 dollars. Some of the art objects were bought by church members who stood at the booth. In addition, some members donated money. In spite of the little success we have had to collect money, we would like to continue this project in fall. Before we do that, we want to ask the question, what can we do better next time?

News on People

• Maria, who was baptised in May of this year, successfully finished her one year stay in a family in the French part of Switzerland and returned to Thun. After a vacation of one month, she will start her three year apprenticeship as a pastry-cook in Adelboden near Thun. Mathias, 17, still suffers depression, but his parents believe that he is slowly recovering from it. Mathias has not attended worship service for months. He is the older brother of Maria.
• Lena and I are thankful for the more or less smooth development of the pregnancy. Lena has often felt bad over the last two months, but it seems to go much better now. We pray that everything will also be fine on our trip to the Ukraine and our stay there.

Prayer Requests:

• Continue to pray for Margrit and Johanna – my parents still study the Bible with them
• Continue to pray for Ueli who is searching for God and for a church
• The teenagers who have not submitted their lives to God in baptism yet
• Mathias, a teenager, who still suffers depression
• Lena’s pregnancy

Any funds can be sent to our overseeing congregation:

Park Avenue Church of Christ /5295 Park Avenue /Memphis, TN 38119

Grace and Peace,

Ivan + Lena

Ivan + Lena Voser Ziegeleistrasse 34a 3612 Steffisburg, Switzerland

E-Mail: voserivan@hotmail.com Phone number: 0041 33 534 57 37

Newsletter May 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

On May 24 Maria, a teenage girl, was baptized. This is very exiting news two and a half months after the baptism of James. The church met this time in the indoor swimming pool in Heimberg near Thun because of a renovation of our traditional pool. Just as always for baptism we met at 8:00 on Sunday morning at the swimming pool.

Baptism of Maria

Maria's baptism

Maria is the youngest daughter of Ruedi und Regula who have been believers since the early nineties. Ruedi and Regula are both elementary teachers. Maria is their first child to be baptised. Her older sister Anna, 19, participated at her younger sister’s baptism. Matthias, 18, is the older brother of Maria.

Maria has just turned sixteen past March. Since last summer she has been working as an au pair in the French part of Switzerland near Geneva. Quite a few young women in Switzerland move to the French part after ninth grade for the purpose of learning French for one year. The end of mandatory school is the perfect moment to do a transitional year to practice the French language which is studied in school from 4th to 9th grade. Since August of last year Maria has been living and working at a family’s home. At the end of June she will have finished her work as an au pair and will start an apprenticeship as a pastry-cook. She has already been able to find a job in Adelboden, a famous Swiss resort place. The village is located in the depth of the mountains which is called the Bernese Oberland about forty five minutes to an hour from Thun. The apprenticeship will start at the beginning of August.

Place of Worship

Snack after Maria’s baptism at the place where in the Middle Ages stood the fortress Stevansburg (or Stevensburg)

We continue to meet at different locations in the city of Thun and Steffisburg. In the last few months we worshipped in the elderly home in Steffisburg where my parents live, but the capacity of the room is quite limited. The leadership of the elderly home asked us to look for another meeting place since in their view we are too many people and therefore a disturbance for the elderly home. In the next three months we will worship at two different places in Steffisburg. The first place is the Pöstli where a women’s association let us use a room on Sunday mornings and Wednesday night, when it is available. The second place where we meet is the Höchhus which is three hundred feet from the first meeting place on the opposite side of the street. It is a building that was built over the fortress of Steffisburg, Stevansburg, which used to protect the people of the village in the Middle Ages. The downside of this place which makes it too expensive to become our regular church meeting place is that it can not be rented for less than one day. As inconvenient as it may be, the church needs to continue to be moving from place to place.

Exhibition Benefiting Orphans and Tschernobyl Victims

Ruedi and Regula stand at the booth to help Ukrainian children

On May 23 and May 30 we continued our exhibition benefiting children in need who live in the Ukraine. Different church members volunteered to stand at the booth in a nearby village for half a day. The location of our booth was between two major shopping centers (COOP and Migros) in the village of Uetendorf near Thun. The purpose of the exhibition was to sell art objects made by Ukrainian orphans and other children. We gave an opportunity for people to donate money for these children or buy art objects that they had made. The first exhibition was on April 25 about which I reported in more detail in the April newsletter.

News on People

Lena’s pregnancy continues to go well. Of course, she has felt symptoms that other pregnant women feel such as tiredness and not feeling well. However, Lena and I are really glad that everything with the baby has gone so smoothly up to this time and the baby seems to be well off. Marianne joined us in the home Bible study group at Regina’s home where we currently study the book of Acts every two weeks. Marianne is a retired lady who used to attend the church of Christ of her city, but because of some problems with the congregation there she has attended the church in Zurich for the last twenty years which is about one hour from the city where she lives. We are glad that she joined us for the regular study of the book of Acts.

Prayer Requests:

• Thanking God for Maria
• Continue to pray for Ueli who is searching for God and for a church
• The teenagers who have not submitted their lives to God in baptism yet
• Health concerns of Mathias
• Lena’s pregnancy

Grace and Peace, Ivan + Lena

Ivan + Lena Voser Ziegeleistrasse 34a 3612 Steffisburg, Switzerland
E-Mail: voserivan@hotmail.com Phone number: 0041 33 534 57 37

Dear brothers and sisters,

I just want to share with you briefly that Maria W. was baptised this morning. Maria is one of our teenagers for which I asked you to pray. She is the first of our teenagers who decided to be baptised. The church in Thun is rejoicing about that. I attached some pictures to this E-Mail about this mornings’ baptism. I will write more about it in my next newsletter.

Grace and Peace,

Ivan

Gathering at swimming pool for Maria's baptism - May 24, 2009.

Maria's baptism - May 24, 2009

New Christian, Maria.

Newsletter April 2009

Dear brothers and sisters,

We decided to give more regular reports to our supporting congregations. Our hope is that through monthly newsletters, instead of newsletters every second month, you will be better informed about the mission work in Thun in the future and therefore more updated on the work that is going on. It is also our hope and prayer that as many supporters as possible can sustain their support as long as this mission plant needs it. We are gradually becoming more self-supportive, but it will take time. We appreciate your faithfulness that you have shown to this work in the past and hopefully so in the future.

Albright’s Visit from the Overseeing Church

Dwight and Josephine Albright from the Park Avenue Church stayed at our home for one week at the beginning of April. They used this time to get an idea of the good challenges and the difficult problems that the church is facing. This will enable our overseeing congregation to understand better for the future where we are as a church and to know our needs. Lena and I are especially glad that the elders of Park want to continue to commit to the mission plant in Thun. It could not be better for us than to have a congregation like the Park Avenue Church assisting us in our financial and spiritual needs.

On April 25 some members of the congregation organised an exhibition between two large grocery stores in Uetendorf near Thun. It is the first of four dates (April 25, May 16, May 30, June 6) that we made an exhibition benefiting orphans and victims from the Tschernobyl disaster on April 26 1986. This first time we sold art objects and received donations for more than 200 Francs (about 200 dollars). My father, my mother and Christine stood at the booth in the morning and Elfriede and I in the afternoon. Lena was prevented being there because she felt sick on that day due to her pregnancy.

Why are we doing this exhibition? When Lena and I were in the Ukraine last summer, we met with a lady from a small charity organisation from who gave us the art objects to be sold in Switzerland. Rather than putting our money as donation for a large charity organisation which we only vaguely know what it uses donations for, we decided to help orphans and sick children in the Ukraine and encourage people to give donations for this cause. Since we know two people who work for this organisation in Bila Tserkva, we feel like it is safer that people donate one’s money to this organisation to help support children in need. The next exhibition date will be May 16.

Youth Retreat in Zofingen, Switzerland

I was invited to speak at the yearly Zofingen retreat on the Friday evening before Easter Sunday. The title that was given to me to speak on was “what can Jesus give me?” There were about 35-40 young people present at the retreat from at least four different German speaking congregations in Switzerland. There were six young people from Thun at the retreat, including Lena and me. Most who attended were between fifteen to twenty five years old. Lena and I were glad to participate on Friday evening and all day Saturday to get a feeling of the kind of young people that are in our churches in Switzerland. Unfortunately, many teenagers in our congregations do not go to church regularly or at all, but have some connection to the church through their parents and attend certain retreats. The Zofingen meeting is more of a spiritual nature than some of the other retreats and so the more spiritually oriented teenagers gather there. Another meeting about which I will inform you next month is the soccer event that is taking place once every year in May where a broader variety of church kids come to participate in.

News on People

Andrea K. got married to Killian H. at the official wedding office. The wedding feast will be on August 1 which is the national holiday, day of independence of Switzerland. Andrea is a Christian and attends regularly on Sunday morning. Killian enjoys the fellowship with Christians of the congregation, but he has attended church few times.

Prayer request:

• Lena’s pregnancy
• Matthias, a teenage boy, who continues to suffer depression
• Our contacts: Ueli, Margrit, Johanna and others
• Our teenagers in church
• Our continual search for an affordable meeting place

We continue to be short of funds each month.  If you would like to help, please send your support to our overseeing congregation:

Park Avenue Church of Christ
5295 Park Avenue
Memphis, TN 38119

Grace and Peace,

Ivan + Lena

Ziegeleistrasse 34a 3612 Steffisburg, Switzerland
E-Mail: voserivan@hotmail.com     Phone number: 0041 33 534 57 37

Thun congregation gathers for James Ferguson's baptism.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today is a very special day because James Ferguson [ed: mentioned in the May-June ’08 report], the husband of Martine, was baptised. I am attaching a few pictures of the baptism. I will certainly write about it more in my next report, but I wanted to give you this quick update. We are all rejoicing.

Grace and Peace,

Ivan

A Roman theatre from the first century where gladiators fought against other gladiators and against wild animals. The theatre is located in Avenches which is about 45 minutes from Thun. The city was probably built by Germanic tribes after they had lost a battle against Julius Caesars' army South of Geneva. Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B. C.

Newsletter 42 (November – December 2008)

Dear brothers and sisters,

We have planted seed over the last few years. At this time we see some fruit growing and wait patiently for the harvest time hoping to eventually reap the fruit that was planted. In this newsletter I would like to tell you of some people whose fruit becomes visible.

Margrit from the Home Bible Study Group Worships now with Us

Margrit, 62, has been a contact for the last two to three years regularly attending the home Bible study at my parents’. She is one of two ladies who have attended Bible studies, the other lady is Johanna. First Lena and I were with the group and I was teaching before getting involved elsewhere. Since the end of December Margrit started attending worship on Sunday morning. She had been prevented to attend by her husband before, but an event in their marriage has changed her mind. She noticed that her husband got involved with a foreign woman giving large sums of money to her (taking the money from the mortgage of the house) to keep his lady lover silent. It resulted nearly in a marriage break up. After finding out about it, Margrit was no longer willing to be prevented from coming to worship service regularly.

 

A view from the city of Thun towards the Alps. You can see the famous mountains Eiger, Mönch (monk), and Jungfrau (virgin).

James’s moving from an Atheist to a First Time Praying Experience

We are also glad about James, 49, who used to be an Atheist. He and his wife had lived near London until September 2007. We were assisting the couple as they were looking for a home in Switzerland. They finally moved into the Thun area (more exactly the Interlaken area). Martine had been a member of a Church of Christ in England. James, however, was an atheist until a few years ago. During the time they have worshipped with us, James continually grew in his faith. A few weeks ago he had his first praying experience in one of our small prayer groups that meets once a month. He was happy about it. James is an intellectual type of person who graduated from an Oxford related University in England, studying engineering. He first seemed to try to grasp God only with his intellectual mind. Now we see that in addition to that, he is being shaped by his mind and heart to become a believer. He is not ready for baptism, but it may be possible that before the end of the year he will be willing to surrender his life to the Lord and be baptised to be a new creation in God. We certainly hope that and pray for it.

Christine Moved from St. Moritz, Switzerland, Back to the Thun Region

Christine, 42, got in contact with the congregation in 2005. First I led a Bible study at my parents’ home where Christine attended. Christine responded as the only person for the home Bible study group for which we had a newspaper announcement. She was experiencing a burn out and we were able to help her in that difficult time. In 2007 she moved to St. Moritz where she worked as a waitress. St. Moritz is one of the tourist places in Switzerland which are known world wide. During that time she was not able to attend worship. She sometimes was lonely, she missed her children, and she missed going to worship. She experienced a totally different world of glamour and excess in St. Moritz. In December she moved back into the area and started some kind of office related apprenticeship in Bern. The church is glad to have her back. She would like to invest time and effort in learning counselling skills.

Purchasing My Parents’ Apartment

In June Lena and I moved into my parents’ apartment in Steffisburg. Initially, we were trying to move into my parents’ apartment from where we would take our time to look for an affordable apartment. We tried to avoid paying for two apartments. When you look for an apartment and find one, you usually can move to it almost immediately. However, you will still have to cancel the contract of the old apartment, which takes at least three months. Finally, instead of moving once again, we decided to stay in my parents’ apartment and buy it.

Ivan and Lena Voser, taken from Ivan's parents' apartment balcony.

Why did we make the decision to purchase the apartment? Can missionaries afford that? Lena and I were first convinced we could not afford it. During the month of August we looked at different apartments in the region. We were surprised at the high apartment rent at each place. The only apartments that were in our budget plan were unsatisfying. Either they had small bedrooms where you could not put much more than a bed and furniture in it or you would have to miss out on a dishwasher. Some apartments needed renovation, but the owner did not have this intention and still wanted to charge considerably for it. As we were talking to my parents about that, my father started to calculate how much we would have to pay a month for a mortgage. It became obvious that this nicely renovated apartment of my parents’ would not cost more a month, if we purchased it than to live in a small and bad four and a half bedroom apartment. In addition, my parents were glad to sell the apartment to us (they had been looking for someone to buy it for six months). It is a large and newly renovated apartment. The recession will help us make the purchase much more affordable.

Lena and I became home owners on January 1 2009. We believe that God wanted us to buy this apartment and all things pointed us into this direction. We regard it as an act of God’s grace to give a missionary couple with a missionary salary an apartment on their own. Once we pay off a basic debt, in ten years, we will live in this apartment on low cost. It is really a future investment which will help relieve too much financial burden on this small church, as it cannot offer a larger salary for their evangelist and missionary.

Church News on People

Regina Lindenmann (formerly Beyeler) gave birth to a son on December 3. His name is Robin. At first he experienced breathing problems, but is now doing well. At the beginning of January her husband had to leave for several weeks for New Caledonia. He had finished his dissertation about this island in December and had to take a group of students there. He is a good husband. Unfortunately, he does not want to join our Bible studies in Basel yet.

Prayer Requests:

• James who overcame to pray for the first time in his life
• Margrit as she has started worshipping with the congregation
• Our teenagers from 12 to 19 years old who have not submitted their lives to Christ
• Regina who gave birth to a boy. His name is Robin. Pray also for her husband, Peter.
• Christine Schwertfeger returned to Thun to worship with us again since December
• Lena and I want to thank God for being able to buy my parents’ home.

Please, send any one time or monthly funds to:

Park Avenue Church of Christ
5295 Park Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38119-3543
901 682-1220

Grace and Peace,

Ivan + Lena Voser, ministering in the Church of Christ in Thun, Switzerland

E-Mail Address: voserivan@hotmail.com

Return to Voser Mission Page

Newsletter 41 (September – October 2008)

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are grateful for your continual support and especially so during this time of recession in the US. The economic shortcomings are turning into a world wide recession. Although we still do not have the monthly support we need, we are thankful for the one time contributions which meet all our support needs on a yearly basis. Contributions in Thun have been high and because the dollar is also making its way up, I asked the brothers to have a meeting to discuss a decrease of our monthly support from the US. For the first time in years, we are going to have a slight surplus by the end of the year.

Benjamin, Rahel and Maria

Meeting with Two Teenagers of the Church
The parents of Benjamin and Rahel asked me and Lena to do a Bible study with their children on an occasional base. We met to see in which areas the parents would see the need most. They penned down a few topics that may be ideas for Bible studies that are relevant for their children at this age (12-13 years of age).  In October we had a study with Benjamin and Rachel on the topic of friendship at our apartment. We looked at some passages in Proverbs about true friendship. After the study we had some cake and sweets. Our next meeting will be in December.

Book Discussion with Brothers of the Church on Suffering

Men’s Study Group

In September the brothers of the church started meeting for a book discussion. My suggestion was to read a book on the theme of suffering. The best available book was in my view D. A. Carson’s book on suffering “How long, O Lord?” which was translated into German years ago. We have done the reading of one chapter at home which we then have discussed in a meeting on Sunday evening. Every brother, except for one, has been present. The theme of suffering also fits well into the church’s theme on serving which I will start preaching on in November. It prepares future deacons and elders among us to reflect on this topic.

Preaching and Teaching on the Old Testament and on Serving
In the months of August, September and October I did an Old Testament survey in church on Wednesday evening. During the time of the survey I preached on ten Sundays on an Old Testament text. Now I am editing the material so that it can be put on our Internet page and downloaded as a course (“With Big Steps through the Old Testament”) by the end of the year.

At the beginning of November I will start a new series of preaching on Serving. This series is more than a one time series because I plan to speak on this subject during 2-4 weeks each fall and winter. What is the goal? It should give everyone in church a sense of being needed and find a place to serve. Included in this series at some point in the future will be the preparation of elders and deacons, our outreach to people (missions), helping the suffering, etc. We begin the series with a vision for the future and a look at the needs in the church and in the community. It surely would be a dream of mine if at some point we could include into this vision the start of a Bible school in the area.

Church News on People
My mother and Elfriede Teuscher turned 80 years old this fall. They are the oldest members in the congregation in Thun. Over the last few months we have noticed that my mother has become more forgetful. We pray for her that her mind will still remember things to live life. Elfriede also has some burdens to bear as she suffers on Tinitus (a constant whistling sound in the ear) on one of her ears. We pray for her, too. Regina Lindenmann (her maiden name is Beyeler) gave birth to a boy. We will continue our Bible study with her and hope that may be some other people that we know in her area may become part of that weekly study. Maria Wenger, 15, moved to the French part of Switzerland for one year to work in a home of a French speaking family. She visits her parents in Thun on Saturday and Sunday of every other week and loves to be in community on Sunday for worship. A few weeks ago Maria wrote a card to one of the members of how much prayers from the church have helped her at the beginning of her time far from home. She has already made up her mind that when she returns to Thun next year in fall, she wants to start an apprenticeship in a bakery.

Prayers:

• -Continued prayers for James Ferguson whose faith is growing
• -teenagers who continually grow in faith and become more part of the community
• -Regina’s hospital stay and her new challenges as a mother, when she can go home
• -the home Bible study group at Regina’s where other people may join soon
• -the Old Testament survey will serve its purpose
• -the series on serving will help the church advance in her efforts
• -my mother and Elfriede who turned 80 and their coping with suffering
• -that churches are willing and able to support this good and growing work in Thun and mission work world-wide in spite of the financial crisis

Lena and I have definitely decided to not visit the US in 2009 because of the economic crisis and the difficulty to raise funds. We though will need to be back in the US in 2010 to report on the work in Thun and to raise funds.

Please, send any one time or monthly funds to:
  Park Avenue Church of Christ
5295 Park Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38119-3543

Grace and Peace,
Ivan + Lena Voser
Benjamin, Rahel and Maria

ministering in the Church of Christ in Thun, Switzerland

E-Mail Address: voserivan@hotmail.com

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Newsletter 40 (July-August 2008)

Dear brothers and sisters,

Lena and I are seriously considering visiting the US in May and June of next year, 2009. We need to be looking for new supporters and for another overseeing congregation. The congregation in Thun can continue to move slowly toward becoming self-supportive, but we do need your continual financial support still to more than 30%. We are about to decrease our financial need provided by congregations in the US under $2000 a month and we will make further steps toward self support in the upcoming years. I ask you to keep this work on your mission efforts as long as we do need it. It is a great work that I believe God uses and blesses greatly in a country in which people tend to move to greater spirituality. We need to be equipped under God’s guidance and be ready for searching hearts. That is why we need to strengthen and expand our efforts. In part this happens through the ministry of Lena and me. We ask you to pray for the continual effectiveness of our ministry efforts.

Vacation in the Ukraine and in Belarus
Lena and I spent our vacation in the Ukraine and in Belarus this summer. My wife’s birth place is in the Eastern part of Belarus, near Russia. We travelled for the first time together to her home country and visited her uncle and aunt in Mogilev. I was surprised at the good condition of the streets and houses in this last dictatorship of Europe. After our arrival we had to go through quite some registrations in the city where we stayed. It was an odd experience. One day Lena’s uncle and aunt drove us to the capital city Minsk. We also visited an impressive World War II Memorial a few miles outside of Minsk. It is a memorial cite where the people of a village are remembered who were burned in their houses, when Hitler’s army was on their way to Moscow. When we returned to Mogilev we looked for a Church of Christ in the directory of the city to worship on Sunday and found one, but when we called no one answered the phone. We went to the address that was indicated in the directory and stood in front of a seemingly abandoned old house where a dog barked at us.

Lena’s mother and aunt joint us reading the Bible on Sunday evening. We read the last few chapters of Matthew about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Lena’s aunt asked some questions and so we did have a good Bible study besides the reading. One of her questions was if she could read through the New Testament chronologically. Not really was our answer, but we encouraged her to do daily Bible reading. We hope to continue the reading and studying with her and Lena’s mother on another occasion. I was also glad to be allowed to say a prayer before meals a few times. One time when Lena’s uncle, an atheist, was at the table and I prayed he left the room silently.

Seminar on Ephesians in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine
At the beginning of July, I held a seminar on Ephesians in the church in Bila Tserkva in which Lena became a Christian in August of 2000. My wife translated the seminar from English into Russian. Some children from the neighbourhood made us change rooms because they put some nasty gas through the door of the library room. Each evening the attendance was about 10-12 people (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday). We had one visitor who came to the seminar every evening. It was a young lady, an English teacher, at the age of 20-25 years. Four young people from Let’s Start Talking from Chattanooga, TN, participated also in the meetings when they did not have English students to teach. On Sunday morning I was surprised at the large crowd of about 30-40 people many of which were there to say good bye to the Let’s Start Talking teachers. I preached about testing our Christianity with three questions: do we submit to Christ? Do we serve him? Do we live what we believe? My points came out of Ephesians. We hope that this seminar was inspiring to the small congregation in Bila Tserkva and to some of the visitors.

Helping Poor People in the Ukraine
Martha Schnegg, 61, who is a member in the congregation in Thun made some clothes for Ukrainian children (see picture in the E-Mail). We appreciate her serving poor children. We took them and used clothes with us to the Ukraine in our backpacks. In the Ukraine we received pictures and artwork from an organisation for an exhibition in Thun. The money will benefit orphan children. In a later newsletter I will write more about our benevolence efforts.

Working on an Old Testament Survey
In August I started teaching an Old Testament Survey on Wednesday evening. It consists of 12 lessons plus and introductory lesson. I limited the space to one page per lesson. I thought this may be helpful as a compressed overview over the Old Testament. It should be beneficial for beginners, but it is also designed as a tool for long time Christians. In November I plan to edit the text so that it is ready to be put on our Internet page and may be used by German speaking churches. I would like to spend more time in writing on subjects that may be important for growing and strengthening churches. I am seeking God’s guidance that I may produce writings in future times that may be a blessing to people.

Church News on People
Alice Gugger, 84, who was baptised in fall of 2007, receives now intense care by one of her Christian daughters, the preacher’s wife of the congregation in Basel. She was moved to Basel. Christine Schwertfeger, 41, who moved to another part of Switzerland for work two years ago, will return to the area of Thun in December. We will be glad to have her back in our community. Regina’s pregnancy is going well so far. She is expecting the baby at the beginning of January. We continue to have a Bible study with her every two weeks and every Sunday she attends church in Thun (almost a one and a half hour travel time).

Prayer Requests:

• -effectiveness of the ministry efforts of Lena and I
• -James Ferguson and his growing in faith
• -our teenagers
• -looking for a permanent place to worship on Sunday and for Bible study on Wednesday
• -financial aspect of the work
• -continual effect of the seminar and ministry to people in the Ukraine and in Belarus

Please, send any one time or monthly funds to:
Park Avenue Church of Christ
5295 Park Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee 38119-3543

Grace and Peace,
Ivan + Lena Voser, ministering in the Church of Christ in Thun, Switzerland

E-Mail Address: voserivan@hotmail.com

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