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SID AND MARY ALLSBURY

APRIL 1978 NEWSLETTER

Greetings to our Friends in America:

I'd better start this letter, at least. It may be written like some letters we receive, "here a little, therea little". How've you been? Thanks for those notes,letters and regular support, God bless you in ways wecannot.

Mary's Activities

Mary has often returned from the ladies' meetings at thechapel saying what a shame it is that more ladies don'ttake advantage of the programs. That attitude can getyou more involved. She was asked this spring to serve onthe leadership committee for next year. Her primary responsibilities will be arranging the devotions for themeetings. To begin her new position properly she ledthe devotions in March. It just happened that the gueststhat day were most of the area chaplains. She preparedwell and never did better! (Non-biased reporter!) Hertopic concerned the discipline of children.

Frankfurt Work

We've made it a habit lately of asking some of the fellowsfrom the Army base to ride to Frankfurt with us for services,We like to fill our bus as the group there is very small."and we usually take the majority of the congregation with us,

Tony is a soldier we've asked several to pray for. He hasspent Saturday night with us three times lately and gone tochurch with us. He doesn't go to church otherwise.

We've arranged to go to Frankfurt each second and fourthSunday in the month. We've had very poor success attractingnew members there. Fred Ragland once said that the mainadvantage we had there was all day activities at our homewhich provided much needed fellowship. Of course, we don'thave that anymore.

Two or three people have written to us concerning the possibility of coming to work in the Frankfurt area. It hasbeen a year since we moved to Karlsruhe and I neverimagined we'd still be driving to Frankfurt to hold servicesIt's not easy to get replacements. We've actually lostworkers instead of gaining new ones. I'm hoping we willgain more than workers for the Frankfurt area but also oneor two families for other areas. From the response andfrom what I've learned through the years it appears thatthere are always good preachers ready to pack up and movearound the world. However, they aren't prepared to handlethe financial confusion that necessarily follows. I think

-^strong local church support, not just money, relieves muchof this pressure. Mature backers who understand some ofthe problems of sponsoring an,overseas .-branch office,which is what each missionary really is.

Films

The chaplain's office has ordered six films for us. Wealready saw Johnny Cash's "Gospel Road". The resonse wasgood, about 45 saw it. Several commented on how they likedit. Some who need to accept Christ again saw the Gospelforcefully portrayed. We spent two hours afterwards insinging and discussion. Several young folks from a localGerman congregation shared in that too.

Counseling

I always hesitate to discuss in much detail matters thatpeople have brought to me in confidence during counselingHere's some idea as to what's on their minds. Job frustration, vocational training and the future are real problems to a lot of people, I realize that doesn't soundvery spiritual but that's what's worrying people. Thereason they talk to me about it is they have the feelingthat God cares about their pain. He does'. Some askabout moral questions, what God expects or how to getout of a. mess they've made.

Exchange Rate

The dollar stayed about like ti was last month. Onedollar gets 1.98 German Marks. It may not come back upI have given up guessing. I'm just very thankful foryour regular help. ^"There would we be without it?

Otherwise

The children's summer school break is from JunsLilS' toJuly 29. Lugano Camp dates are July 25 to Aug\^t 3.Obviously they'll either miss the first week of'^ schoolor camp. The plans for camp haven't all fallen intoplace yet. The location is one big factor. It^may bethat we can use the same grounds we have used fpr thepast four years. I'll know more next month.

Thanks for your constant help and prayers. g

We are,

Yours and His,

Sid Allsbury

SID AND MARY ALLSBURY

MAY NEWSLETTER

Greetings to you once again 1

I have had several (a few?) people lately tell me that theyenjoy reading our newsletter. Thanks! Actually I've just beenreading Georges Carillet's church paper where he discussedPaul's "newsletters". Instead of Paul listing his number ofconversions, attendance records and honors received, "he citeshumiliating experiences, such as being whipped like a commoncriminal, being cast out by his own people, being ship-wreckedand floating in the water helplessly, etc. (2 Cor. 11:24-29)

If I were to try that approach I'm afraid it would coma outhumorous. Lately my "humiliating experiences" would probablybe arriving late, thinking I was to speak when I was not, andforgetting to serve tea whan the Linthicums dropped by. Ihave a feeling my reports are just a little below the Apostle's.

While Mary's Away...Speaking of serving tea, I was supposed to do that because Maryhas been away. She spent the weak of May 8-12 in a women'sretreat in southern Germany. She has never been away from uslike that before. As I write this she's there. It's good forus and I'm sure for her too. She has agreed to help with theProtestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) for the coming yearand is at that conference.

Cousins Meet in Germany

We really enjoyed meeting so many of the fellows from the southwest Missouri National Guard unit that was here for about tendays. My cousin Ron Kime was in that group so we had a personalvisit from home. We took the only weekend Ron had free anddio^e to Belgium traveling along the senic part of the RheinRiver on the way. Our purpose in going to Belgium was to visitthe cemetery (memorial) where Ron's father V7as buried duringWW II. We v;ere royally welcomed by Dennis and Linda Messimer.missionaries in Belgium.. We attended a Dutch speaking churchon Sunday and returned through Luxembourg.

Several other of the fellows came in too. Randy Friend andSteve Dorsey from Carterville were here as well as Wesley Hillfrom Carl Junction.- Smmitt Poindexter from Carthage and LarryVaughn of Joplin were nice to get to know. Others came intothe coffee house more by accident and one or two used the opportunity to discuss personal questions or needs.

Jill had prepared a giant three foot reproduction of the Missouri Seal which graced the wall of the coffee house (and stilldoes) for the visit. Wish we had more such visits.

Baptism ClassI haven't baptized anyone myself in so long I'd probable doit backwards. 1 have had the opportunity to teach severalwho were about to be baptized. The following Is an interestingexample of how that can happen. I went to see Chaplain Webster,my supervisor to get his approval for a project. While in hisoffice a phone call came in. Someone was obviously trying toarrange a time with him for teaching. Je asked me if I wouldteach a class on baptism for him. Ha finally convinced me andgave me a booklet he'd given to those planning to be baptized.Frankly I was a bit surprised that he attached so much significance to baptism. His paper taught that one must be baptized to become a part of Christ's church. Chaplain Websterexplain's that the Lord's Supper is for those who (among otherthings) have been baptized.

There were eight who came to the class. I wondered when Irealized that the class had been scheduled for three weeksbut only one came. Wa tried to just go through the Bibleversed on the subject and encouraged each to respond as theWord teaches. One couple came to the coffee house that nightfor about three hours more of the same.

Chaplain V?ebst8r MovingIt was Chaplain Webster who invited us to come to Karlsruhelast year. It's been a pleasure working with him. In Junehe will be transferred to Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo- We are nowthinking of the new chaplain who will replace him. Pray tha-he will be a spiritual man- Chaplain Webster has used hisrank (LTC) for God. When the ccmmunity commander oponvCd thePX on Sundays •'t was Chaplain Webster who influenced himi toopen at 1200 instead of XOOO. '̂ -Then one of "our boys" wrotehim a letter of appreciation for the coffee house he tookit to two officers (Important ones) relaying the GOldiersfrustrations with the quality of barracks life. Maybe youall will get to meet him some day.

We are so very thankful to God to be able to report thatMr. and Mrs. Raymond Bodley have ansv/ercd the call to cometo Frankfurt I really hope that some c.f the others whodiscussed working in Frankfurt will consider one of themany other important areas -

Summer HelpWe've never tried hosting short time workers on the missionfield. We've hea-d the arguments pro and con as to the benefit of such programs. Because workers are needed it compelsus to do something. If this effort isn't successful we'llwant to try something else. JJ

I •Jerrold Moore and Jennifer Smith, students at Osarjc B^bleCollege have corresponded with us for some time a^out-possibly spending the summer with us. It will be our ^oallto expose as much of Germany to them as possible. "Geirhany" heredoesn't mean the land but the culture and people. 'They needto get an idea of what it would be like to live and work here.Exposure to other missionary projects world be go<^ ti^o,

New HelpWe are supplied with a soldier who works five days a^eek inthe coffee house. Each soldier is with us for 90 da^^. Som.efellows are more reliable than others, you can Vv'ell imagine.Recently Gene Whetted has been assigned here. That's like adream come truel Gene has helped since we came by keeping thecoffee house open late Saturday nights. He really reflectsChrist to those coming in.

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There are many other littleevents which would be interesting, but time and space fails.Diane says the children are working on a skit for the 4th of JulyThey don't complain much aboutschool and almost never about theclasses Diane has for them in

English. Thanks as usual, foryour regular financial help. Weknow you keep us in your prayers.We are,

Yours and His in Germany,

Sid, Mary Allsbury and children

PROJECT GERMANY FINANCIAL

REPORT FORi^APRIL 1978

Brought forwardApril 1Income for AprilTotal

Expenses for April

Overdraft chargeBalance May 1

$357.011792.85

2149.86

1740.32

409.54

5.00

$404.54

SID AND MARY ALLSBURY

JUNE NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends

This letter is past due so I'd better try to bring togethersome thoughts from recent events and get them on to you.Your interest in our work means so much I No worth whileproject for God will succeed without prayer. Grace Abrahamswho once lived in Frankfurt wrote from England and mentionedthat she prays for us every Monday. What an interesting idealA little organization gets a lot done.

Skiles Visit

We enjoyed two short visits from Ted and Bev Skiles in May.They are missionaries in Taiwan and stopped over in Europe ontheir way to the US for a year's furlough. Ted presented thework of the children's home by way of slides in the coffeehouse and we planned a "mini marriage seminar" for anothernight. The few couples we have regularly in the coffee housewere prevented from coming so Ted and Bev spent that nightvisiting and relaxing with soldiers who came in. We made aone day trip with them to the castle "Neuschwanstein". From-there they traveled across Bavaria seeing Dachau, mountainvillages and over to Salzburg, Austria. After that they droveto Switzerland to see the David Stitt family. It was goodto have them here and now they'll be in the US where many ofyou will get to greet them.

Casteels Visit

While Terri is counting the final days of her time here herparents and sister from Tulsa are here to visit. Mr, and Mrs.Keith Casteel and Janie have also done some touring in Germanyand France. It's been nice to have them around the coffeehouse

Study on the Apostles

On Friday nights we have a Bible Study at the coffee house.Recently we began a study through Glatians and spent twolessons on the Apostles. One soldier who was not in the studycame later asking some questions related to the Apostles and"Apostolic succession:. That;s always a frustration to a teacher or preacher when he prepares a study and then faces questions of helplessness from those who should have been in hisclass a few days later.

New Paint On BuildingThere have been some refreshing new signs of participation onthe part of the fellow at the coffee house. Tony bought us aTV game for the coffee house. That's proven to be interesting. Several guys helped paint the front of the building.Part of it, at least. We have waited a year for someone topaint the outside but nobody seems to want the job. I thinkthe interest on the part of our people here speaks well forthem. They do a better job, anyway, than some of those senthere to paint. This interest is encouraging and is seen inother ways as well. When I hear fellows sitting at a table"rapping" about spiritual things, or glance in a side roomto see heads bowed in prayer, I feel that the needed balanceof Christian interest is here.

Lugano

Much of the planning for the Lugano Christian Service Camphas been done and much of it cannot be done until the daycamp actually starts. We are happy thal^ Harvey ..Beard andTibbs Maxey will be with us this year. These Bible Collegeprofessors have much to offer and besides that it will justbe good to see them. Their wives, too! We expect greatmorning classes and evening chapel times. Charlea^Trqyeris planning the music so that has to be a treat.

One sad thought. Harold and Beverly Hicks have made knowntheir plans to return to the States this summer so theywon't be in camp with us. We'll really miss their help.They've veen in Spain 4 years and plan to work in the US.

Photo Contest

I hope I learn from experience. Our photo outting May 29was a failure, I think. Two or three guys who would havegone were in the field and any other possibilities justwanted to do something else more^ A trip to Paris, forexample. We selected a holiday because transportation waseasier. An Army van was provided. However, the holidaywas at the end of a four day weekend so too many made weekend plans.

One soldier who had never been in the coffee house came into learn about the photo contest. He's been in regularlysince then and attended a Bible study one Friday night. Iguess the "photo'follishness" has been worth it already.

Oh Yes-..

Guy and Thelma Mayfield plan to be in northern Europe thesecond half of June. They will be meeting and teaching theItalian Christians from various parts of Europe who will_meet in Karlsruhe June 17th. They plan to do some callingin Germany among Christians up this way,

Diane Miller bought a car. She really needed one but own-' ership is really expensive. It's a '71 VW comeplete withX.racing strips.

The Protestant Women of the Chapel are planning a Father'sDay picnic June 18. A worthy part of the plans is to"adopt" a single soldier for the day.

The kids school break is from mid-June to the end of July.They are really enjoying the swimming pool in town. Randypulled a neck muscle as he was flipping the water out of hiseyes during one dip. Two x-rays later we were satisfied itwasn't too serious.

r-yWe are facing some most unsettling moments in the next few ^weeks. Our supervision will be changes and we will neces- ^sarily be making hew adjustments. Please support us in 'prayer during this time. We are optomistic about the enthu- ^siasm expressed lately but concerned about administrativechanges. Thanks for your love expressed so many ways. Godwill provide!

Yours and His in Germany,

Sid, Mary Allsbury and family

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