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What's on our minds... We've previously shared a bit about what our daily life looks like between MO-FR. We organize the weekends so that we have as much time as possible as a family. We always act very spontaneously here. On Sundays, we often head into downtown Colorado Springs after church. We walk around the park, drink coffee, enjoy the weather and look for people to bless. Most of the time, we make time for the homeless people. Depending on the person's condition, we have short or longer conversations and, if necessary, we always have something to drink with us or hand out food. We may tell you more about this in another blog post. Update #Loveyourneighbour Little by little, we are getting to know the neighbors in our area. And there are actually quite a few of them. 😊 Some of them have roots in Germany or have been there before, which led to longer conversations. The first family came to visit us. A young family with three children. We had such a good time with them that we are already planning our next meeting. They offered to help us whenever we had questions or needed anything. Betty now joins the wife for a dinner and craft night that her mother is organizing. We pray that doors will also be opened to the other neighbors. Thanksgiving is celebrated in the USA at the end of November and Johann has a one week school vacation during this time. We would like to bring a little joy to our neighbors and are in the process of working something out. Thankful or anxious? Thankfulness is often forgotten in our lives. Especially in recent days, weeks, months and years, where the world feels like it is falling apart at the seams and negative headlines flood the news, we quickly forget to be grateful and lose ourselves in worry. The Bible repeatedly calls us not to worry. Phil. 4:6 - "Be careful for nothing..." 1 Pet. 5:7 - "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." And when it says: "Be careful for nothing", then it actually means, be careful for nothing! In the parable of the sower, Jesus draws our attention to the fact that (Mk. 4:19) the cares of this world... choke the word and it becometh unfruitful. And in Luke 12:26 he asks us why we worry about anything at all if we can't even do the smallest thing. To follow the "worries" means to be devoured by the devil in the end (to drink down, that is, gulp entire - devour, drown, swallow (up): Strong Dictionary)! (See also the context of 1 Peter 5:7.) This is not a state we wish to be in personally. We don't want to waste our time meditating negatively (meaning: thinking negatively), which also means spending intimate time with the devil or explaining to God what is bothering us during 80% of our prayer. This only makes our worries big and strong, so that they build up strongholds in us and God becomes very small in the situation, which results in unbelief. Instead, we throw our worries on Christ by telling them how great God is and what Christ has done for us. We focus on the finished work on the cross, worship God, magnify HIM and remember who we are in Christ. As a result, worries become very small, lose their power, strongholds are torn down and disappear. Our prayer time has turned into a time to thank God and remember what Christ has done for us. We are not saying that we do not bring our problems or worries to God in prayer. The "sandwich method" helps us by first thanking/praising/worshipping God, then mentioning the problem and then thanking/praising/worshipping God again. We can confirm from our own lives what a big difference it makes when 90% of our prayer magnifies God. We have every reason to be thankful, don't we? ...God has given us everything through Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:32) ...he has brought us out of darkness into light (Col. 1:13) ...he has taken all curses upon himself (Gal. 3:13) ...he has cleansed us from all sin and justified us (1 Cor. 6:11) ...given us a new identity (Eph. 4:24) and eternal life (John 3:16) ...we are his sons and daughters (2 Cor. 6:18) and no longer children of wrath (Eph. 2:3) ...over 3000 promises written down, which still apply TODAY (Gal. 3:29) ...his Spirit as a deposit (2 Cor. 1:22) and thus the fruit of the Spirit, which also includes joy at all times (Gal. 5:22) ...and there are so many more scriptures than the few listed. Thankfulness will change your mindset and focus! Jesus is waiting for you! If you don't know Christ yet, then we can tell you that he is waiting for you with open arms! He laid down his life just for you! He wants to make your past forgotten, bless you and give you back what has been stolen from you over the years. If you desire this, accept his offer - eternal life ( knowing God = intimate relationship). You can pray the prayer below and receive your salvation by faith through God's grace. God hears you, forgives your sins and gives you a new heart and his Spirit. This is a promise that he has given! Prayer: "Jesus, I need your help and forgiveness. I desire to start a new life with you as my Savior and Lord. Show me how I can live this new life that you have promised me. Through faith in your word, I now receive salvation. Thank you for hearing me and answering my prayer. Amen." The moment you commit your life to Jesus Christ, the truth of His Word immediately takes effect in your spirit. Now that you are born again, you have a new identity.

General and to the testimonial Dear friends, Thank you for the feedback that has reached us in the last few days about Johann's testimonial. The baptism of the Spirit is a topic that generates interest and discussion, even controversy and a few questions. We realize that people with many different backgrounds of faith read our blog. Also, we all stand at different points regarding faith and the knowledge of God. We are not on dopamine, running from one miracle, experience or adrenaline rush to the next. These are all things that may give some "fulfillment" for a short time, but are not our focus and what we are reaching for. Our identity is in Christ, or if you rephrase it as man, that identity is in the born-again spirit, which is also called "Christ in us." We define our relationship with God not based on feelings, emotions or experiences, but on our identity and intimate relationship with Him. As described in the testimonial, God has revealed Himself to us in a way like never before. It is not that we have been seeking or praying for this experience either. We don't focus on external influences or manifestations. But when these things happen, glory to God that we can be there and witness them! Furthermore, we are very aware of the limitations of our blog. We don't have the space (and also not the assignment) to publish our insights in extensive teachings or to write as detailed as in a book. Our intention is, as already described on our front page, to let you participate in this stage of life, to make God great and to give a little insight into the things God reveals to us. You will also find our motivation described in the section "This is us". We don't wish to convince or condemn anyone to the contrary of their insight here. If you get something out of our blog and it blesses you: Praise the Lord! We are very happy to personally answer your questions and thank you for approaching us with openness and goodwill. Our foundation is and remains Christ and His finished work on the cross. As long as we agree on that, we have no trouble disagreeing on other matters. We love you and bless you with 2. Cor. 13:14: «The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.» Love Greetings Betty und Johann

Johann was baptized! But not with water, because he accepted the water baptism in 2012 at the age of 16. On the first day of school he accepted the baptism known as "Baptism in the Holy Spirit". What had happened? First of all, I do not want to motivate anyone to copy my testimony to their life. It is the way God went with me. Therefore, I am not going into every single detail. You should not be motivated to seek the Holy Spirit for the sake of experience or gifts. At the same time, this blog post is not a teaching lesson or sermon. I grew up with the teaching that miracles ceased with the end of the apostles. And that speaking in tongues, as described in the Bible, does not come from God. With regard to spiritual gifts, until two years ago I did not know of a single person who had brought even one of the described gifts to manifest in his or her life. Accordingly, I believed that when I was born again, I received everything I needed to live. Also, I believed that speaking in tongues is something from the devil and that people who do such things are not Christians. The Holy Spirit was just a concept I encountered now and then when reading the Bible, but I did not have a close relationship with Him. This changed about 1.5 years ago after I heard a sermon about the baptism in the Holy Spirit for the first time. The rejection in me was present during the whole sermon and also after the sermon, a battle was raging inside, but in the beginning the whole subject left me cold. I thought to myself, "I am born again and with being born again I received the Holy Spirit." For what, then, the baptism of the Spirit! Further, I was taught only that there is ONE baptism and not multiple. I began to ask God in my prayers if there was more than I had been taught so far. After some time, I realized that I had to find an answer for myself. What does the Bible say about the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" or what does baptism mean in general? I started to focus my attention on this topic in the Bible, read books about it, made pro and con list and checked everything with the Bible. After about half a year, it was clear to me that the Bible does not speak about only one baptism. I started to let the word of the Bible work on my heart and renew my thoughts towards this subject. On March 12, 2023, three days before we left Switzerland and moved to Germany, I had a dream. And for the first time in my life, a voice told me to write down the dream. When I woke up from the dream, it was the middle of the night. My whole body was wet and extremely uneasy, total fear was upon me. Knowing that my words have power, I immediately spoke against it and a total peace came over me. For several days and weeks I was thinking about the dream and wanted to know from the Spirit what the dream meant. And he gave me the interpretation. The dream was about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and that there was something inside me that was choking the scattered seed and keeping me from receiving. Months went by and I got no revelation about what was keeping me from receiving. Until suddenly the topic caught up with me again in the USA. On the evening of Aug. 11, 2023, I went to a conference in Woodland Park with a housemate. During the worship time, while I had my eyes closed and was singing, I suddenly felt that I had no ground under my feet and was floating. I quickly opened my eyes and was glad that I was still standing in the same place and everything was the same as before. A few minutes later I closed my eyes one more time and again I had no ground under my feet. I opened my eyes to see that everything was the same as before. This was so strange to me that I decided not to close my eyes anymore. During the next song, when I had my hands raised halfway up in the air, my arms were supported from below and almost completely stretched up in the air. I quickly looked at my arms, but there was nothing and no one holding my arm. There was no one on my right, in front, or behind me. Only my housemate, who was standing to my left. But she had her hands down and was not paying attention to me. That's weird, I thought, and put my hands down... I didn't know what it all meant at that moment. We drove home that night and I was telling her in the car, in my then broken English, what had happened. She just looked at me with wide eyes and said, "I was speaking in tongues during worship and the Spirit gave me the interpretation that it had been for you. I saw Jesus, he was standing between us." Now things are getting weird, I thought to myself. She also confirmed to me that my body was not physically floating. I wasn't quite convinced that I hadn't imagined something and that it had been real. The next day we went to the same conference one more time. Betty and Elijah came with us as well. During the sermon, when Elijah got a little antsy, Betty, Elijah and our housemate went outside. Now I was sitting all alone in a row. In front of me was the aisle and behind me were two rows completely empty. During the sermon, I was sitting in the chair normally, my head was pushed up slightly but with some force, so I was looking at the ceiling. I saw nothing except the light, ventilation pipes, etc. Immediately I had to think of the last evening. I realized, something is happening here, this is not imagination. Something is happening and I don't understand what it means to me... After I lowered my head again, I had to think of Samuel from the Bible when God called him and he answered after the third time, "Speak Lord, for your servant hears." I spoke these words after that. Another two weeks passed and we are on our first day of school. Several speakers shared information. And then there was a change in the schedule for the day. One speaker dropped out just before her speech and someone else stepped in. He spoke about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and what it did for him. In the middle of his sermon he says, "All of you who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, raise your hands." I turned around and about 98% of the students raised their hands! WOW, I thought, there are between 1,000 to 1,500 students here... At the same time, I just thought, don't ask who hasn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit yet! And what do you think was his next question? Correct, his next question was, "Who wants to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?" I turned around because I was sitting in the second row from the front and at first no arm went up. A visitor then came forward who wanted to be baptized into the Holy Spirit. My arm stayed down. The instructor called him forward to the stage. While the man was still walking forward, I abruptly stood up. This is the moment I have been waiting for over a year, I thought to myself! Also, my dream came to my mind. So I slowly walked towards the stage. As I walked forward, my legs and then my whole body began to shake. Fear was spreading in me! It was the same feeling as when I accepted Jesus as my Savior for my life around 7 to 8 years old. And these are two different things... Which is quite interesting.... In front of the stage, two people started praying over me. And nothing happened... I wasn't waiting for a physical manifestation, but for the speaking in tongues to come out of my mouth as promised. (Not to be confused with the spiritual gift given for the general public. I am speaking here of the personal speaking in tongues). As the people continued to pray, many thoughts went through my mind. "I told you that you would not speak in tongues. People didn't tell you the truth!" or "You're not emotional enough, you shouldn't just stand there and wait for it to automatically come out of you. Throw yourself on the floor or start screaming..." And all such weird stuff was going through my head, which I stood against inside. And also one of the people unexpectedly said, "You may not experience the manifestation until a few days later." To which I promptly replied, "No, I know it will happen here and now! I'm just blocked inside."The person grabbed me by the back of the neck and we prayed together again. Then the blockade broke inside me! It was as if a barrier would break and the power of the water flowed through me. Immediately my tongue was released and speaking in tongues came out of me automatically. We let it run for a few minutes and then stopped. Since that moment, by the grace of God, speaking in tongues has been given to me that I can start and stop at any time I want. I thank God as often as I exercise it for the gift He has given me. It is not something that I have earned by any work. It is a part of the work of redemption and a promise that he has given us, of which I am biblically convinced, which is available to everyone by faith. But everyone do their own research to see if they believe it is biblically right or wrong.

Hello friends, I'm very happy to share with you what the support of people like you is doing in my life and in the lives of many others. We are beginning to see a wonderful harvest for the Kingdom of God already! Here are two recent testimonies from students who have returned from their mission trips: "God used my mission trip to show me that no matter what you have done in the past, no matter where you have been, if you submit to God's will, He can and will use you to change the lives of others simply by giving a testimony. I am grateful for the change that has taken place in me." - Matthew "On my trip to North Carolina, we worked at a transitional home for people who are between two life situations. We celebrated an outdoor service for them, and at the end I did an altar call. Two little girls came forward and I was able to lead them to Christ. I felt so honored that God had used me. Afterwards, I was able to tell them about God's faithfulness and nearness, even in their difficult situation. From then on, I knew that their lives would be changed forever.» - Carigan https://www.wyomingnewsnow.tv/2021/01/21/college-students-from-colorado-took-mission-trip-to-fremont-county/ Report from the Mission Trip 2021 Further information about my mission trip We will be spending the week in Wyoming exclusively serving on one of the largest Native American reservations in the US. A few years ago a German couple started a ministry there after graduating from Charis Bible College. This year they completed the building with housing units so we can stay overnight on site. We will be allowed to serve in a lot of different ways in prisons and rehab centers, at several events, etc. We will also be able to do hands-on labor and be active in current construction projects. In the next time we are preparing as a group for the mission trip. There are different nationalities and age groups represented, which makes the whole thing even more exciting for me personally. 😉 Thank you for choosing to partner with us as we will take the gospel to the world. At this moment, I am grateful that God has already provided for me with $550 of the $2,500 goal. I pray that every seed you have sown will flow back into the Kingdom of God! Lives will be changed, hearts will be healed, and people will be set free. With your contribution, you are making a difference for eternity. Very best from Colorado, Johann

...to make Him known As part of their education at Charis Bible College, all second-year students go on mission trips. After more than a year of intensive teaching in the Gospel, over 800+ students are sent out all over the world to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Among other things, this trip gives us students the opportunity to get active and put into reality what we have heard. While on the mission field, we participate in ministries such as street evangelism, youth and children's ministry, preaching in churches, prisons, and rehab centers, etc. From the end of November to the end of March, groups are sent out weekly to different cities and countries. International students accomplish their outreach, for various reasons, in the USA. My mission trip will take me with a group of 14 people to Wyoming, USA from 12.11. - 12.18.2023. 😊 Among other things, I will be able to preach the gospel and share God's love in the city during my birthday and my son's birthday. 😉 We will probably also be able to serve on the Indian Reservation. I will let you know here when there is more information about the trip. I will also try to provide you with daily updates throughout the week. We are expecting great things and I am really looking forward to spending time with the group. You can be a part of sending me out to Wyoming. The seeds you sow in the form of financial giving or prayer will produce a guaranteed harvest in your life and in the lives of the people we serve. If you would like to contribute and send me out, you can use the link below. Please use the link shown to donate specifically to the mission and not one of the accounts on our website. See also the note at the end from the blog. Thank you! https://grouprev.com/charismissiontrip23-24-johann-nachtigall We were given the following milestones by the school: Until 10.20.2023 1500$ Until 12.05.2023 1800$ Until 02.20.2024 2100$ Until 04.01.2024 2500$ When we received the first information in the first week of school and what amounts we needed for the Mission Trip, the spirit spoke to me to believe for my contribution and that of another person. This person is Logan Crutchfield from the USA. Logan suddenly stood before me the first week of school and said that he had a specific word from God to deliver to me, which he did. 😉 The Spirit had already spoken to me about funding before meeting Logan and he subsequently made it clear to me that Logan was the person for whose contribution I should believe. If you have the call to support Logan, below is the link to his profile. He is not in the same group as me. Currently, it is not confirmed when or where he will be going. https://grouprev.com/charismissiontrip23-24-logan-crutchfield Note: All donations are non-refundable. In January 2024, you will receive an email with a year-end receipt for all tax-deductible donations made through said website. To know God and to make him known.

Our Hebrew friends 😉 August 25: School starts for Johann On the 25th of August, school started for Johann. A few days before, the whole picture opened up to him, why we are going to Charis Bible College as a family here. During his personal Bible study, the Spirit spoke to him through a Rhema word from the Bible. It is about the story in 2 Chronicles 20:20-25 where the Moabites and Ammonites fought Jehoshaphat. And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” - 2. Chronicles 20:20 ESV The last part of verse 20 spoke directly to Johann. Jehoshaphat trusted God and his prophets, so he gave the received word to the people. He was victorious, which can be seen in the verses that follow. Humanly speaking, Jehoshaphat's actions did not make sense. Sending the musicians and the choir to war before the armed fighters would naturally mean sure death for these people. But that was the instruction from God to the prophets and Jehoshaphat believed it and so gave it to Judah and the others. Johann wondered, "Why does this verse speak to me so strongly? Where is Jesus in this story? This is a historical record from the OT, so why the strong sense of stirring in me?" Two things following each other have led to the triumph here, which should not be interchanged or only partly carried out: Trust in the Lord so that you may be comforted (grounded) in HIM, and Believe in the word of the prophets, and you will succeed. And especially the words "comfort" and "succeed" stood out strongly. What do the words mean in the original text? comfort = “âman” → like a parent, care for, build up or support, nurture, be safe… (Strong Dictionaries) succeed= “tsâlach” → push forward, go over, come mighty and break out… (Strong Dictionaries) And this is what we would describe as the word we received from the Spirit for our situation and calling out of these verses: If we put our trust in HIM, He will care for us like a parent and build us up for His work. The Spirit encourages and reminds us of all that Christ has already accomplished. He will direct our focus completely to HIM. And at the same time, we need a push forward in our ministry. And this happens through His appointed prophets. We are to trust in both so that we can come into God's calling and bring forth fruit. Does this mean that we shouldn't check what is said in school with the Bible? This should remain far away (#Paulus 😉). The Bible is very clear that we should check everything, that also applies when we sit in church on Sunday and the word is preached. Meanwhile, Johann was also taken down from his sometimes one-sided spiritual high horse. Correction was necessary to restore the biblical balance between the priesthood of the believer and the fivefold ministry of Eph. 4:11-13, to be equipped for the ministry and to grow in wisdom and maturity. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. - 2.Chronicles 20:25 ESV The school is currently the right place for us, because here people give us the necessary steps to break out into the fullness of our calling. God wants us to see, live out and pass on all the prepared fullness. The harvest will be different when we bring these things together. We have been blessed so that we can be a blessing. Maybe you're wondering now why we keep talking about the calling? If not, you can also skip directly to the next section 😉 This section is important for at least one reader... We'll only go into it briefly so as not to turn this post into a book 😉 . In the sabbatical we went through the entire epistle to the Romans for just about 7 weeks. And there Romans 12:1-2 changed our life and became our prayer: «…that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.» Rom 12:2 KJV. We believe that God shows us His will in 3 levels. The context gives the instructions on how you can find the will of God. We decided to become the living sacrifice and offered our lives to Him. With this decision, our lives changed significantly. And after the seed rose in our hearts, we made the changes that the Spirit showed us. And yes, the first calling is to be and remain with God, but don't miss when He shows you the next steps. «And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach…» Mark 3:14-15 KJV. As mentioned before, just a brief glimpse of how God has spoken to us in this period. When God sends you to a place or to perform a service, He will also prepare you for it. However that preparation may look for you. Trust in the Lord and listen to His voice and RESPOND to it! AMEN?! Thus, we can already say here that our goal is definitely to go into full-time service for the Kingdom of God according to God's timing. We also already know what the goal and calling is for us as a family. We have only seen a small part of the big picture, but that is enough for us to know which direction to go. One question that we have been asked independently since July has been with us daily and has a strong influence on our future. It is the question, "Are you willing to pay the price?" This question greatly stretched us in the beginning. We both asked ourselves the question, "What is meant by price?". And after prayerfully asking what it meant specifically for each of us, we had to stop and take a breath after hearing the answer... It definitely has an impact in many different areas of our lives… And what does Johann's usual school day look like? Every day a 40min car ride about 700 meters in altitude stands on the routine. The lessons always take place from Monday to Friday from 8am to 12pm. Johann spends most of his time on campus together with about 380 other second year students. The total of more than 1'000 students are between 16 and >86 years young. Johann has already met many different people from different nations and ages which has led to interesting conversations.. School for Betty With school officially starting at Woodland Park, Betty has also begun investing time each day in studies. With online study, she can work at her own pace and remain flexible. Classes at Woodland Park are recorded every 3-4 years and the videos then serve as teaching sessions for online students. Betty spends the mornings with Elijah and if he naps for more than half an hour, she even manages to watch a lesson early. :-D Around 1 p.m. Johann is home and after lunch he takes over Elijah. So Betty has the afternoon free to study. When Elijah is in bed in the evening, we both have some time for self-study, to catch up on some work, to spend time together or with other people.

After the first few weeks, which felt a lot like a vacation, we finally settled into the U.S. for real. A lot of organization had to be taken care of. As with any move to another country, you first have to get to know the laws and customs. With all the cultural differences, we are glad to have roommates who grew up in this country and can help. We are very grateful for all the people who gave us assistance and helped us out especially in the early days. We spent some time thinking about which transportation we should use here in the USA. There is hardly any public transportation in our area. All of our housemates brought one or even two cars. In the beginning we were allowed to use their cars, but soon we realized that we also needed a car of our own. So we looked around on the common auto-buying sites. We noticed that cars in good condition for a good price leave the marketplace quickly again. Sometimes the cars are already sold after less than 12 hours. Since Johann always wanted to sleep at least one night over it and seek God in the situation, many good offers passed us by. 😉 However, in this case Johann held on to wanting to make a decision out of rest. One evening we spotted a car that had just been posted at 10pm. We waited until morning and knew that this car could be the one. A good price and relatively low mileage. After the test drive - the same day - it was clear that this was to be our car. We drove to the bank to withdraw the money for it. But at all banks we ran into the problem that with a foreign account we could only withdraw $1,000 a day. To get more, we need to create an American bank account. This was not in our interest, so one person helped us and paid the money forward. We were able to experience again that the right people are in the right place at the right time. This is our loyal companion for the next time ;-) Two days after we bought our car, we had a flat tire. We were just about to go shopping, saw it and started laughing at first. For whatever reason... 😊 Our housemates immediately offered us a car so that we could do our shopping. When we came back, one of our housemates had already removed the broken tire without much fanfare and mounted the spare wheel. He then also took the broken tire to his place of work the next day, where he could have it patched free of charge, and then also exchanged the spare wheel for the patched tire again in the evening. That's just a little snippet of how we live together as a housing community. Everyone is super helpful and supports without big questions where need is seen. «Love your neighbour»… A call from the Bible that we also frequently ran into on merchandise in Switzerland. We had engaged with this statement during our time in Switzerland and we enjoyed spending time with our neighbors there. (Greetings at this point to all our neighbors who are reading along 😉) We also want to make great ties with our neighbors here in Colorado Springs. The fact that we are often out and about with Elijah, walking rounds around the block, soon led to many neighbors taking notice of us, since hardly anyone else is out walking. Elijah is a ray of sunshine and many conversations arise because people are simply drawn to small children. 😊 We also experience this again and again on the go when shopping. So we have had several very good and interesting interactions. We hope that some will soon take heart and make use of our invitation to coffee & cake. The love of God for our neighbors and also for the people in the city is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. In Colorado Springs we have seen and experienced people like never before in our lives. People with obvious big problems, be it physical or spiritual. And yet we love the people here and want to pass on the love of God. We have been blessed so that we can bless other people! AMEN! Next blogpost In the next post we will give you an insight into the first weeks of school. After that, there will be a first feature about Johann's future mission trip. We will also share about that here in the blog. 💡 Lightbulb-Moment (In the future, this is where we share with you a short revelation that we got.) Did you know that in Genesis 8:8-12, the three different ages of the Holy Spirit are symbolically represented by shadow images? Shadow images means: pictures are used to explain spiritual truths. V. 9: the dove is being sent out ➞ does not find a resting place ➞ returns The age of the OT (Genesis to Malachi); the Holy Spirit came upon certain people at certain times to perform a certain ministry and then left them again. In the age of the OT, the Holy Spirit did not find a resting place. V. 11: the dove is being sent out ➞ returns with an olive leaf ➞ no more judgment Age of the Gospels (Matthew to John); the olive leaf in the dove's beak symbolizes the end of God's judgment on sin. This judgment was placed on Christ. V. 12: the dove is being sent out ➞ does not return anymore Age of the church (Pentecost until today); the spirit comes and dwells in the believer forever. This promise was already prophesied by Joel in the OT and was fulfilled at Pentecost.

How God provides for our needs and surpasses our imagination... Summer 2022 we had friends from Switzerland visiting us who, like us, were attending a Bible school in the USA. We chatted a lot about God and the world and, among other things, how they were living in the USA. They described their one-room apartment and that they stored their suitcases in the trunk of their car all year round because there was no room for them in the apartment. While they were sharing this with us, Johann was already picturing that our living situation would be somewhat similar. We did some research on Google about the housing situation in Colorado and quickly realized that there wasn't much more than a one-bedroom apartment in our budget. With a whole movie already playing in Johann's mind, the Spirit stopped him: "Don't limit me with your thinking towards apartment size and budget! I have prepared something different for you than you imagine at this moment." That same evening, Johann shared his experience with Betty. We repented of our thinking and decided not to limit the spirit in our housing situation. So time passed until the spring of 2023 and we let the matter be. In February, a former German student advised us to post on the official Charis Facebook page that we were looking for a place to live. So we did an introduction, added a picture of the three of us and waited for feedback. We looked online for an apartment, but were very open to a shared house. Most apartment listings in Woodland Park were over our budget, and with a baby and being a married couple, a shared house is not that easy to find. Most shared houses are for singles and then of course all-female or all-male. Betty regularly looked at the housing offers in the group and also made inquiries with some. Everywhere came rejections. She connected with a young couple from Canada and we decided to look for an apartment together in Woodland Park. However, for various reasons, this did not work out. Every closed door tried to discourage us. Although we also kept thinking about the Word we had received from the Spirit, it was often not so easy to stand on the Word and trust God. We would have preferred to live in Woodland Park to keep the commute to school as short as possible. Eventually, we did decide to be open to housing in Colorado Springs. So Betty scrolled through the Facebook group again and looked at the housing ads in Colorado Springs. One shared housing ad specifically addressed married couples. Although the ad was older, Betty wrote to Kimberly to ask if she could provide more information about the living situation and whether it would be possible to rent the room with a baby. Kim responded that the house was 300m2 and had a garden with a swing, etc. Moreover, the largest room was still available. This was ideal, we thought, especially for our growing son. We prayed about whether the house and the monthly rent were right for us. A day later she answered a few more questions and after checking with the other couples if they were okay with a baby moving in, she agreed. We were just happy to be able to check off one more point. A few days later, Kim wrote Betty that there was a changing table and dresser in the house for Elijah. This further confirmed to us that we had made the right decision. God provided us through Kim with a high chair, playpen, toys and even a car seat for Elijah. The door for this home was wide open and we could hardly wait to meet Kim and also the other couples in person. But it wasn't until we arrived that the whole picture of how God had led us to this house opened up to us. We can see that it was right and important not to limit the Spirit and that He has a great plan for our housing group, and the goal of all of us is not to miss it. See for yourselves how God has led us all into this house... This is how Kim experienced our admittance: Hallo, my greatest joy is the Lord and trusting in his leading of the Spirit. Sometime in April, I was looking on Charis Facebook page to see who was looking for rooms to rent. We are a little further from the school so I was praying to the Lord on who to except in our home. I knew instantly to go Coed. I asked the Lord to show me more because I didn't want any concerns from anyone. Then he said married couples. So I got right on Facebook and put up an ad. I got my first couple within 2 days. The Lord led them to come to our home. A couple day's later I saw Bettina's ad that they were coming to Charis from Switzerland, and they had a 👶 baby boy Elijah. He put in my Spirit that Elijah was very important to Him and that his name was God-given. I also knew in my Spirit that Johann and Bettina were the ones God wanted in our home. I called the owner of the home to see if we could have a baby in the house. All couples were required to be students, so I also had to ask if it was ok that only Johann would be attending Charis. I called Beth the owner right away, and she said it was not what we agreed on. I had only met Beth once and it was God who brought us together so I didn't push the issue. I felt grieved and heartbroken that I couldn't respond to Bettinas post I said Lord I know they are the ones. Two days later Beth called me and said if you think it's ok that they come who am I to deny a child of God. I was so excited that God had impressed on Beth's heart to let them come. I went back to Charis Facebook page to find the ad from Bettina. I couldn't find it anywhere. I now had rented all the rooms except one and kept looking for one more couple. The Lord was not showing me any other couples to put in the last room. I kept looking for Bettina and still couldn't find the ad. I turned away so many couples. Then one morning I woke up and cried before the Lord because He is so faithful. There was a message from Bettina to me on my phone that said: Hi Kimberly. I saw your post for the room in the rental you are staying. Is it still available? Could you give me some more information about the price and living situation? My husband and I are coming with our baby boy. We just need one room, as our baby sleeps with us and probably will until he is about 2 years old. Would that be a possibility? Thank you so much. 😊 Blessings, Bettina. I flew out of bed and said Yes, Yes. I only needed to let the other students know before responding. So I quickly called them. The first response was Yes absolutely 💯 👏. The next couples wife wanted to ask her husband and he said yes I'm only seeking the Lord nothing else matters. She said because she works from home and sleeps next to Johann and Bettina's room there might be a few concerns but who am I to deny a child of God! Yes and Amen. It's wonderful that you can Love someone before you ever meet them. God is so faithful ❤ my son giggled at me when he called and said how are you doing mama? I said great Johann, Bettina and Elijah got here today and he asked how was it? I stated I love them. ❤ they have been such a blessing and Elijah brings much Joy. Now after a few days there is so much more to see of God's Goodness and after sharing of our testimony of our call here and so much similar words from the Lord we can only sit with our eyes wide open in waiting of His Marvelous Plan. And Rest in his leading. Amen! Lorrie and Andrews Story In March 2023 we decided to follow God’s call and go to Bible College in Colorado, so we started looking for a place to stay. We were thinking to a small flat or renting a RV as we were aware of high rent cost in Colorado. It never crossed our mind to rent a room in a shared house but God’s ways are most of the time different than ours and He would always show us the best way for us. My husband started praying for a place up to $ 1,000 a month that has everything included so we don’t have to buy furniture or kitchen items and it is up to 45 min away from the college campus. We were researching about RV when a friend from England called me to tell me that she had a dream and I was living in a big house on a hill. Initially I thought that the dream was about us buying a new house in the future but later during that day something happened: while I was checking my facebook, I saw an add of a lady that was looking for Bible College students to share a house. I told to my husband that I suddenly feel drawn to live in a house with other Christians students. He told me to message the lady and see if they accept us. The house was all what my husband prayed for and suddenly I realized that it was also the house from the dream: big house on the hill. Lady accepted us and on August 14th we moved and God confirmed one more time that this was the place where He was directing us to stay for the time in Colorado. Lorrie shared more details of her friend's dream with us in person. We see how some things have already become reality and are excited to see the whole picture fulfilled. Victoria and Joshuas Story In Dec 2022 we had a wonderful family come into our lives that eventually became our spiritual parents and spiritual brothers and sisters. They are the ones that turned us back to hearing from the Lord for ourselves and revisiting the Charis call that we heard the few years before. it was there that really realized that it was the call of God on our lives to go to Charis and to move to Colorado. So we both quit our jobs and staged everything so that we could start leaving. We ended up getting blessed with the finances to go to the 2023 campus days and it was an amazing experience. It was there that everything started to fall into place. There was a tuition discount going on 10 and we reached out to Julianne Harris about it seeing if we could secure it it turned out you needed a deposit. Which we didn’t have. So she took a minute and prayed with us, and believed with us, for the finances in the Lord‘s will to be done in our situation, the day after was the Charis fair. We took our time talking to people from local churches, reaching out to jobs, and everything else that Charis had opened up for us. Nothing seemed to click though. Victoria was in line to meet Mike packet, and I was confused as what to do next. I started walking around by the fireplace just praying in the spirit trying to hear from the Lord on what to do next and what was his plan for us. Out of nowhere, Julianne Harris comes running towards me, exclaiming, that I needed to come with her immediately, and that her family had had paid both mine and Victoria’s tuition for the whole year. We were so excited! I am mediately ran to grab Victoria and tell her the good news. It turned out the family had been hearing from the Lord back in December 2022 and he had told them that he had wanted them to pay for two peoples tuition. The Lord had already been setting up for our provision Before we even knew what we were supposed to be doing. A few days later, we got back to Michigan super excited and energized for what God was doing in our lives but we still had housing to figure out and jobs. We end up seeing a post on Facebook in the Charis community bulletin about a basement apartment that’s available and it was very affordable. We gave a call to the lady who advertised it, And after talking with us a little bit, she tells us that she heard from the Lord and that she believes were supposed to be staying in the apartment. She told us that we need to hear from the Lord ourselves, but she was very confident that we were the ones for the apartment in the basement. We take our time, and we immediately feel in our hearts that this was the place for us. We start to pack up everything we can leaving most of our stuff behind, we filled up our car with everything we needed And we sat out for Colorado. We get to town and settled in, but it takes two months for us to secure jobs in Colorado. The Lord took care of us anyway, and paid our rent for the full two months and provided us with money for food and anything else we needed. When we finally get jobs secured, they are absolute miracles. I get a job at Sam’s Club where they didn’t have issues processing my background check, and Victoria gets a job as a shift lead at a cookie store. We are so grateful for the amazing blessings that God has given us, and the amazing provision he’s provided for us. We believe we will always be in the right place at the right time doing the right things with the right people. God is great He has thoughts of peace over us. He wants to give us a future and a hope. He also has thoughts of peace over you. He also wants to give you a future and a hope. Give it a chance and let yourself be led by him.

The last months before leaving for the States... The last few months in Germany have flown by. Filled with work, travel preparations, time with friends, family and a growing baby. The doors had been opened wide, so we got our visa without any problems and also quickly found a place to stay in the US. At the end of June, we left for Switzerland once again. Johann was able to bring back his working equipment and we took care of the deregistration from Switzerland. At our small farewell party on July 1, we were able to say goodbye to good friends, old neighbors and many from the youth group and the church. We spent July packing and storing boxes once again, packing suitcases and meeting with family and friends. On August 5, we said goodbye to family and friends in Germany with a garden party. We were relieved when we finally sat in the car and on our way to the airport. The last days before leaving had been stressful. On the drive to the airport we began to really realize for the first time that a new phase of our lives had begun and the excitement began to build. As Betty prayed and sang worship songs in the car, she had a picture in her spirit. "Jesus is walking ahead of us all along the journey, preparing the way, and we are following." That's what we experienced. Doors were opened, things fell into place, and our journey went smoothly. Days before the flight, we wanted to reserve a Baby Bassinet for Elijah, which are offered on long haul flights depending on the airline. We were told on the phone that all Baby Bassinets were already booked for the flight. Disappointment wanted to take hold of Johann, as he had previously reserved extra seats to fit the baby bassinet. Together we put our request to our heavenly Father. Shortly before departure, we asked again at the service center and at the gate. Here we were told that we would possibly get a baby crib, but without guarantee. On the plane itself, the stewardesses told us that the baby crib will be installed as soon as we reach the flight altitude. Elijah could not sleep so much because of his excitement and also had light problems with the pressure regulation, but also here we could count on God's provision. The stewardesses and passengers around us were all captivated by him, delighted by his laughter and tried to support us throughout the flight wherever possible. Once we arrived in Denver, we spent the night in the hotel and the next day we got a ride to Colorado Springs, our new temporary home. From rainy Germany we were greeted by bright sunshine and worship music coming from the window of our accommodation. In front of the house we met with the first roommate couple, who were heading to work. Inside the house, Kimberly (Kim), our House Manager, was waiting for us. The second roommate couple would not arrive until 4 days later. Since Elijah was asleep, Kim left with Betty to go grocery shopping. So we jumped right into it. We felt immediately at home and spent the first days already in deep conversations with everyone who lived with us. We are very excited to see what is yet to come... In the next blog post, we will tell you about how God brought all the couples together in this house prepared with a vision, among other things. We thank you with all our heart for all the generous contributions we received during our time in Germany, Switzerland and at the farewell parties. Thank you for the seeds you have planted in our lives. >To know God and to make him known< A statement that befriended missionaries have written on their banner and in their newsletter. A statement that has inspired and challenged us. Currently we are focusing more on the first part "to know God". We expect to experience great things this year. And we are excited about where the Spirit is calling us to make Him known. "Be still, and know that I am God..." Psalms 46:10

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.