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How we ended up here...

How is it that you decided to go to Bible school? And why this one in particular?

Questions that we were asked several times last year. You know how it is: the Bible says one thing, experience says another. While the Bible calls us to rejoice always, to love our enemies, and as a creature made new, we are too often stuck in deep valleys, unable to overcome sin and barely able to love our brothers and sisters in the church. Like many others, we noticed this difference in our Christian lives and sought a better way. Already in 2019, Johann wanted to attend a Bible school for this reason. We thought that we would get to know God better through this and that we would get a solid foundation laid by the school so that the change would show in the desired areas of our lives. And since Johann's strength is discipline and he is motivated for a valid degree, a Bible school where essays are written, Bible verses are memorized, and weekly tests of study are done, would be the right place for him.

However, he did not get peace to join a school. In his search for this peace, the Spirit of God taught us a few months later that the relationship with God is not "head knowledge" but "intimacy". Building on this revelation, we realized that we are not changed because of effort or copying someone else's biography. Quite the opposite, we are changed without effort! The Word of God is spirit and life, and like a seed and our heart is the soil. A seed does not strain to become a tree and bring forth fruit. It just happens to do what it was designed to do by God - and it does so without effort. We cannot claim to have fully understood this statement. But at that point, a journey began for us where the Word of God came alive for us. Different people have been walking with us and have also spoken spiritually into our lives with wisdom and personal prophecy.

Oeschinensee, Switzerland, 2018

The desire to attend Bible school was not the problem, but the motivation behind it. We also know that God never closed the doors for this step and we always had the choice for a bible school.

How did we end up attending a Bible college after all?

Johann's wish remained. It stepped into the background while we were busy with our tasks in the church and at work. During our sabbatical in Costa Rica in 2022, we both made the decision to give our lives completely to God. We wanted to use the time off to get a vision for our youth ministry. Believing that we would receive from God. God's plan was to use the time off to teach us the gospel of His Son. So we spent our time almost exclusively letting the gospel work on us. During this time, the first impressions came that our ministry as youth leaders might be coming to an end. We came back to Switzerland with a great desire for Him and His Word, but no specific plan as to what our devotion and the time experienced should mean.

We retreated to this house, in San Isidro, Costa Rica twice for a week and took the quiet time to let God speak and listen.

The jet lag after our return continued to bother us for two weeks. During a sleepless night, Johann meditated on the Word of God. In the silence, the Spirit of God spoke to him in the form of an inner voice that he should enter "Andrew Wommack Bible College" into Google. This is how he landed on the website of "Charis Bible College". Immediately, the desire to go to a Bible college was back in his mind. This time, however, the thought was accompanied by deep peace. Johann knew immediately that our way would lead to the USA in 2023 to sit under the Word of God.

For Betty, the idea was not so easy at first. Prejudice and fear of the unknown got in her way. But with her devotion in Costa Rica came an openness to the work of God. So she allowed the Spirit to work on her heart and a short time later she had a clear and easy yes to this step.

At first, it wasn't clear to us why we shouldn't start studying in the U.S. in the fall of 2022. But just a few weeks later, one of the reasons for the delay became apparent. Betty found out that she was pregnant and we would have a baby in December 2022. 😊 Pregnant with our first son and visions for our future, 2022 passed without any disclosure about the real reason for our move. With the decision to give up our apartment, jobs, network and all other things in Switzerland and later in Germany and move further towards the US, also came challenges and struggles. (We may go into that in another blog post sometime.) During that time, our step of faith and faith in general was attacked and challenged many times in many different ways. But God remains faithful to his word. This is what we experienced and what we take with us from this time.

Why go to the USA, you could also attend the school in Germany?

Because of obedience to the received word of the Spirit! This is the only and true reason for our move. From a human point of view, there would be a lot of things that would speak against moving to the States. Thank God, this we may cast upon Christ!

We know that Bible college is not the main reason for our move, but to testify and receive the calling for our lives. We cannot yet imagine the full extent that will be involved in the move. We go in faith and the promise that God's Word is alive and He stands by His Word.

Therefore, we look forward to the time ahead as a family and to benefit from the fellowship of like-minded people.