phillips alva janice 1965 germany

8/17/2019 Phillips Alva Janice 1965 Germany

1/16

ADJRJS.^

i ; ] r . i.rs, Alva Phillips

7261 btanmhelm, Krs. Calw.

Hauptstrasse

13

V/GSt

Germany

Dear Brothers and Sisters

in

Christ,

FORWyiRDIPG AGENT

I'lr.

virs. Victor

Slutz

127

S, Hudson St.

Coldwater, Mich,

49036

January

Newsletter

As

we

hegin a

new year-1965-for

our

Lord

in Germany,

we

rectuest

your

prayers

in

three areas of the work here.

Our

first

request of

prayer

is

for

a revival in the Black Porest area.

V / e

desire to

be

gin

regular church services or

Bible

Study groups

immediately,

but the

most effective way

to

do this, is with a revival. Some of the German

people are real enthusod about a

revival.

Please pray

that,

if

it

is

God's will, wo

will

be able

to

hold one within the

next

month or two.

fhe

second area in need of your

faithful

prayers, is for the

Christians

already

here, that they may

be

spiritual l y stirred and strengthened

, t o

serve the Lord more fully and

completely; and

that those outside

of Christ wi l l see Christ living in

the

lives

of The

Christians,

and

w nt to

become

a part

of

His Body, too. Lastly, we desire

your

prayers

in our

behalf-that

we may be granted the needed v/isdom, knowledge,

and strength to carry on a rich work for the Lord in the Black Porest,

The road here

is

rough

and stoep,

but

the spiritual blessings are

reward enough, thanks, glory

and

honor

be to

our marvelour

Lord.

Tes, we

have

a v/onderful

Lord, who has blessed

us with the

sweet

est,

most darling littl e

daughter

ever, Deborah Ann,

(or

so we think).

She is growing very rapidly. In a matter of 0 days, Deborah

had

l en

gthened 2

and

one-half

inches, she has

dark blue eyes and dark bro^wn

hair

that

is becoming

lighter

with

each day that

passes.

Perhaps

in

a

month

or so she will have bl onde hair,

as

her eyebrows are

nearly

white. Our Christmas was the happiest ev er in Christ, because of His

great

blessings to

us—the

birth

of His Son,

and our

baby,

Deborah

Ann.

V / e dearl y l ove her. She's

a

very good baby, which is

a

big help

to

us. (The

German

cablegrapiher

misspelled

Deborah's name on

the

oablegTam—it

was

not

a

typing

error

on the part

of

the newsl etter

typist.)

Per the first tr^ie in

our

lives, we

celebrated Cliristmas

in

the

Bl ack Porest

stylei And this we

\¥Ould like to

share

with you. The

last

two weeks of November you can see many

wreaths in the stores

with four candles

in

them.

These are Advent

wreaths.

Pour

Sundays

before Cliristmas,

the Germans light

their

first

candle, the third

Sun

day before, they light two (each time only letting them burn for five

or

ten

minutes), the

second

Sunday before—three candles, and the last

Sunday

before Christmas,

they

light

all four.

This

represents

the

four

Gospels

which tell

forth

the

story of

the

life of Jesus.

On

Dec

ember

6th

Saint Nichol as comes

to

visit

all

the homes

of

the children.

Before

his

arrival the children set their boots on the window

sil ls.

Then he fill s

them

full of goodies—candy, nuts, fruits, and cookies—

for the good boys and girls; but

for

the bad boys and girls, he loaves

a

bundle

of switches. Then, on

Christmas

eve

the

family sets up the

Christmas tree together, decorating

it

with

tinsel, colored bulbs,

sparklers

(as

we burn on the 4th of Jul y), and real candles (with no

light bulbs

of

any kind). It was a beautiful sight to behold. V / h o n

all is finished, the children are sent to the church

for

a half an

hour,

while^the

parents

help the Christmas Man put

all

the children's

presents under the tree.

Upon

their return

home,

the presents are

al l

opened, and the

children

spend the evening playing

with their

new toys.


2/16

On Christmas day the

family

gathers around the

table

for a dinner of

goose,

boiled potatoes

and

a

green

salad

(usually). Ihey

are

hearty

potato caters;

the

26th of December is

the

German family's second

Christmas, which is

generally

sppnt with the neighbors, in giving

cookies, cakes,

and

coffee, to

one

another. Yes, Christmas

is

cele

brated quite differently here in

the

Bl ack Forest area, but it

is a

wonderful

time

of

praise

to God for the giving

of

His Son in our

home.

This

does not

end

the

celebration

for

the

Catholic families,

for on

the

6th

of

January

they

celebrate the

arrival

of

the

three

kings who came

to

see baby Jesus. At this time three men

will

dress

up

as

kings and go

from

house to

house asking for gifts for the Christ

child.

One

is black,

one

is white, and

one

is

yellow.

So, you can

see

that the

Germans have

a

long

Christmas

season.

And

so goes this

season

of the year in

southern Germany,

We want to

thank

each and everyone of you who

have helped uss

(l)meet

the

needs of our

child,

Beborah

Ann; (2)to meet our needs

this past year; (3)and

to

shower

us

with

many

wonderful gift s

ooth

materially

and

financiall y. Trul y God has blessed

us beyond

measure

through

each of you. V / e thank

God for

each of you, and

praise I - I i m for His

wonderful grace,

" . / i t h the

new

year of 1965 al

ready

begun and elev en months ahead

of

us,

we pray that these

v / i l l

be

rich, successful months for the

Lord

where

you

are, as well

- a s

here

in

Germany.

The

field of harvest is so

very

vast here, but

we

pray that very soon more laborers will

come

here to labor for our

Lord,

We will be praying

for

you, and ask for your continued prayers

for

the Lord' s work here,

for

only through prayer can Christ' s

King

dom

move

forward. Thank

you for your faithful

prayers this

past year.

May our Lord and Savior richl y bl ess each

and

everyone of us

in

this

new year.

Y c i u r

brother and sisters in Christ,

Alva, Janice,

and

Deborah

Ann

Phillips

/

-iST OWOSSO

CHGHCII OF CHRIST

119

Hoyt

St.

Owosso, Michigan

4606?

Form 3547 Requested

Non-Profit Org,

U.

S.

Postage

PAID

Owosso, Mich.

Permit

#20

MAi

W.E. McG l l vrey

509 Jefferson

Ave.

Joliet, 111. 60434


3/16

-fRESEMlIKG

THE GOSPEL IH GEEMAMY

— fMHiMw

Phillips

b'7^

God

hearsy and answers prayers How do we know?

Because

God has answered our

p r a y e r s . D a i l y

w e s e e H i m a n s w e r i n g

t h e m .

O n e o f o u r p r a y e r s y w h i c h H e a n s w e r e d ^ w a s t o

start

a young peopl e's

study

group.

On

Sunday evening,

Jan, 2 ^,

the neighbor's children

asked us to

tell

them a Bible story, S s x

my

wife prepared a flannelgraph lesson. When

the parents

saw

the fl annelgraph

figures, they too

wanted to

see

and hear the Bible stor

And

so,-d.n our broken German -̂we presented

the story of Hannah

praying

for a

son»

and

then

giving him

to

God, The children,

and

the adults al ike^received a great blessing

from it, They had never

before

seen such

a things

A f t e r

w e

h a d

f i n i s h e d ,

t h e

c h i l d r e n s a i d , C a n

w e

i t w i t e ^ o u r

f r i e n d s t o

c o m e ,

and then have

a n o t h e r

s t o r y like that?

¥e r e a d i l y

s a i d " y e s j ' ^ ^ a n d t h e

y o u n g p e o p l e ' s

group was

started. T h r e e days

later t h e

c h i l d r e n c a m e t o o u r a p a r t m e n t

10 of t h e m ^

plus

two adults—nd we began

to study

God's

Word together. All

of

the

children


4/16

2 hillips

wanted

to know

when

they

could

come again. ¥e invited them

to

come every Wednesday

at

3

« The

childrei^so thrill ed

and all enthused.

We

can

only

thank

God for

answering your prayers and ours, and thank

you

from the

bottom

of

our

hearts

for praying

for us and the furtherance

of

the Gospel in Germany,

B r o . P h i l l i p s a s k e d f O r h e l p i n

t h e

f o r m o f o u t - o f - d a t e o r

p a r t l y

u s e d

w o r k b o o k s ,

dot-to-dot puzzles, pictures to color

and

handwork

ideas.

He said

that

they could

u s e t h e B i b l e p i c t u r e s

o f f

t h e o l d S u n d a y

^ c h o o l

p a p e r s — t h e y u s e

t h e

A m e r i c a n p a p e r s

for ideas which

must

be translated

into

German.

Address

on field is:

Alva Phillips,

7261 S tammheim, Krs. Calw., Eauptstrasse

I3,

West Germany.


5/16

FIELD

ADDRESS

} i r .

irs. Alva Phillips

7261 Stcjmiiheim, Krs. Calv;

Hauptstrcisse 13, West Germany

FORV/ivRDING AGEHT

Black Forest

Christian Mission

c/o Mr. trs. Victor Slutz

P.O.

Box

46597

Cincinnati, Ohio 45246

April, 1965 Nev/sletter

Deer Co-lahorers in Christ Jesus,

Have you ever made a

mistake,

and not

realize

it until

it

was too

late?

If

so,

you

knov/

exactly

how

w . c

feel.

V / e

made

a

mistake

in

our

last newsletter,

" b y

giving you E f r . & ' i f s ,

Victor

Slutz's

home

address,

instead of giving you

the

Blission address. Please forgive us for mix

ing

you

all up. This

was

not intentional.

So, we

will

now give

you

the

correst address. PLE/iSE

write

this down in

your a.ddress book HOW

All letters to

our

forwarding agent should he

addressed

as

follows;

Black Forest

Christian

Mission

P.O. Box 46597

Cincinnati, Ohio 45246

You MST

ut every bit

of

this address on your letters, or

our forward

ing agents will not receive it.

The reason

for this address, is that,

if Mr. Victor

S l u ' t a ^

should begin a new ministry, the address would

still

be

the some, during his time

in

Cincinnati Bible Seminary.

PLEASE do take

heed of

this new address. Thank you for being so

pat

ient

with us.

V/ith each

new day that

the Lord grants

unto

us,

we

can

see more

clearly the

hand

of God moving among the

people

of Stammhein. It is

so thrilling to know that

we

are

never

alone, that

our Shepherd is

al

ways

by

our side, guiding us

in

His path.

The

work here is

not an

easy work, nor is it a

rapidly

progressing work. But the work here in

the Black

Forest area is a gradual work, slowly moving forward

for our

Lord.

The l ast day

of

Elarch, v / e walked

to the

Molkeroi

(Dairy)

together,

carrying our daughter, Deborah Ann. As

we

approchcd

the

Dairy,

a

mot^

her stepped

up

beside us,

and

said,

"I think it is wonderful tho-t you

will tell the Bible stories to the children.

My

two children could not

come today(duc to other work), but

they

v/ill

be

there next

week." V / e

had

never

seen the lady before.

But right

away,

wo

knew who her child

ren v/ere. Oh how our hearts

rejoiced,

for

wo

loiov/ that God's Word was';

beginning to

take

root

and

grow.

As

is recorded

by

the prophet Isaiah,

55;11—s "So shall my word

be that

gocth

forth

out

of my

mouth;

it

shall

not return unto me void, but it

shall

accomplish tha,t

v/hich I

please,

and it shall prosper

in

the thing whereto

I sent it."

And thi^

is so true.

God's'Word

will

never come back empty, I

feel

that our

real

problem is

that wo feel

or

think that it

should progress

and grow

at

our desired,

speed,

but only God-can bring the increase.

Only God

knows

the hearts of man. For this, wo truly thank God. V / c have a ,

tremendous

Savior, but

too few

people

really know Him. \ 7 e must labor

now

for

Him.

Time

goes so

repidly by,

and

so

do

lost

souls. Please

do

your

part

to help them come to

know Christ

Jesus. Please help us

to.tell the

Germans about Christ, by praying for

us

each

day

in your

daily

prayers.

Please

help

the Germans to come to

Christ,

by praying

for t hem, too, each day. They

are

as wandering sheep,

without a Shep

herd.

We

must work together

to

give them

Christ—NOW.'

Have you ever worked with an active

group

of youth? Have you ever

tried

to

keep them suppl ied with

spiritual

foods

and

activities? This

is

a

real challenge.

But

we

love

every minute of it. Daily we thank

God for the v / a y

in

v/hich He is blessing these young peopl e. Because

of

the gre t interest shov/n

by the

young people, we are considering

a

split

in

the

groups.

We

feel

that

they will be more

able

to

comprehend

the Scriptures at

their

own l evel. Pl ease pray for these youth, that.


6/16

they

will

surrender

their

lives to

Christ,

and

will let Him mold them

as He sees fit.

This

is

om^


7/16

FIJJLD

Îm So

Mr. irs,

Alva

Phillips

7261

Stammheim

ICrs,

Calw

Hauptstrasse

13? West Germany

POPW/J^PINCr

AGENT

Black Porest

Christian

liission

P.O. Box

46597

Cincinnati,

Ohio

45246

May,

1965

Newsletter

Bear Priends in Christ,

To each

of you we want

to

say thanlc you, for the wonderful

way

you

are

helping to promote the

work

of C i ' i r i s t Jesus tlirough your prayers.

We know

you have

been

praying

for

us,

because

we

can

see

doors

of

sp

iritual

hunger slowly opening

up. I t is

so hard

for us to

patiently

wait for

the

Lord

to give the

go-ahead

sign, V / e

must

pray daily

for

patience, so

that

we do not close the doors of opportunity

which your

prayers have opened

up.

As each Bible study hour for the adults and

the

chil dren come and go,

we

recieve spiritual refreshment from the

Lord and His Word, but we

also

receive many heartaches,

V / h y do people

have

to be so sl ow to

re

spond to the teachings of God' s Word? Why must the devil work overtime

on those souls who are

desiring

to hear more of God's Word? Why cannot

every

Bible

study

group

be

large and

responsive, instead of once

or

tw

ice

a

month?

Why?

Y / h y ? Why? Yes, we have many

disappointments

here

in

Stammheim, as

v / e

strive to labor

for

our Lord

in

starting

a

work.

One

week w e

have

6

to

8

adults

for

Bible study,

a n d

the next

v / e e k ,

perhaps none, and we

always

feel

so discouraged. Then

v / e

think

of

I s a i a h , w h o p r e a c h e d s o long

a n d

h a d n o c o n v e r t s .

Then

w e

can o n l y

thank God that some people are showing interest—even if it isn't ev

ery

week

the same, The

youth

group varies some too,

but not so greatly

as

the adults. During

the three

weeks of Easter vacation,

we

averaged

2 b youth each week. But the last Wednesday of April, the children re-

turnedto begin

a

new

y e a r of

school

o r grade, a n d

t h e r e w e r e o n l y 13

or 14

in attendance. But, as we

already

have said, v / e r . ( i U S T learn

to

be patient. Oh'

This

is so Hard:J

T h e w e e k

b e f o r e

E a s t e r , w e p r e s e n t e d t h e

R o s s u r e c t i o n s t o r y f r o m t h e

liie of

our

Savior.

There

was

one

youth

v / h o

did

not believe

it

until

w e

s h o w e d

h i m t h a t

it c a m e

from

the W o r d of God. H e is

o n l y

12 o r

13

y e a r s

old. T h i s

is

h e a r t - b r e a k i n g ,

isn't

it? A f t e r

o u r

Bible

study,

w e t o o k

t h e

c h i l d r e n f o r

a n

E a s t e r e g g h u n t . T h i s w a s r e a l l y a w o n d e r

f u l

e x p e r i e n c e .

T h e r e w e r e

2 7

y o u t h a n d

3 a d u l t s , s o y o u c a n i m a g i n e

h o w

q u i c k

w o h a d t o be—always o n o u r t o e s : T h e c h i l d r e n d e a r l y l o v e d

after the long

hike to

a n d from

the

hunt, I am sure

they

slept

good that

o v e n i p ^ . s a t ^ s ^ ^ * * ^ " " " '


8/16

\ 7 g

saw

tho

cutGst

sight the

last week

of April, as

the first

graders

w nt to

their first

day

The school

year

runs differently

h c r e ^ It

begins

i i u i b g r i l , a n d

ends tho

last

week of I J a r c h .

They havo

a

throe weclf'^^cation at

Christmas

time, six v/ecks of summer vacation

in

July

and August, and about 17 holidays b esides. The children must

go

to school

six days

a v/ook

and have much homov/ork—from

the first

graders on up. They usually

arc

in

school only

a few

hours each

morn-

ing-usually from

7 or 8

a.m.,

to 11 or 12, depending

on

the

age level.

The

first

day of school

is

a thrilling time for the

first grader,

for

he must

carry his

big tutor V / e ;vould call

it a big

paper cone)

filled full of Goodies with hin. This tutor contains his

or

her

favorite sandw ich, cookies, candy,

fruit, any

little extra thing

v/hich

the

Mother

may

feel

like

sticking

in

for

him. Then ho can oat from

this

any

time

ho

so

desires,

the whole

time that he is in

his

first da;

of school. If ho is

a

gentleman, ho will

offer

tho teacher something

from

tho

cone.

As tho first graders go

v/alking to

school

the

first

day, they

have

their sachels strapcd on their backs and must carry

their cones or Tutors , w hich are about

2

and one-half

feet long .

This

is a

darling sig ht to see. Wo only v/ish you w ere here to see it.

Have you

over found yourself

_doing . s o m e

.wishful,

hinking.?---\7c-suro-

havo. Wo7havc

also done

some praying ab out the wishfxil thinking ,


9/16

FIELD

ADDRESS

hr.

^ i r s .

Alva Phillips

7261 Stammheiin, Krs> Galw

FORWARDING AGENT

Hauptstrasse 13^ West Germany

Black Forest Christian liission

c/o f i r . i r s . Victor Slutz

P.O.

Box

U6597

Cincinnati, Ohio, hS2h6

Dear

Co-laborers in

Christ

Jesus,

June, 1965

Newsletter

This

p a s t m o n t h s e e m s

to

h a v e b e e n

the

r a i i ^ m o n t h

in

t h e B l a c k F o r e s t

area,

as we

have had rain nearly every

day.

I J h e n we see the rain

fall,

and see

it wash

away some of the

filth

of the streets and sidewal ks, it makes \ i s

think

of the won

derful

way

in which

our

sins can also

be

w a s h e d a i - ; a y .

They

are w a s h e d awsy in the

blood

of Christ

Jesus. Oh,

if

onl y these lost soul s

of

Stammheim

could

realize

the

great lov e

T d i i c h

Christ

g a v e

to them

or

s h o w e d

for

them on the

cross

of Cal

vary, what

a different town

this w o u l d be

And

in no time

at

all,

just

think

what

a

diff erent land Germany itself

would

be. If every

Christian

would win one other

person

to Christ

each

month o f

the

year,

it

would not be long

until

we could

forget

about

fighting

wars,

and

g o

to

work

helping o ut

sisters

and

brothers

in

Christ,

g i r o w stronger in the faith.

But as

we fac e reality, we see

that

this is yet to

co me. Let each of us make a resolution with Go d, that we wil l d o al l that we

c an

to

bring

lost souls to

Christ

Jesus

before

it is

too l ate.

If

you

have had a

part in

raising

children,

or if

you

have worked with them,

you know who much jo y they can

bring to your

heart. We

have

truly

rejoiced in

the

Lord for the

young people

or child ren

which

come

to

Bible

study each Wednesday

afternoon.

We

always give them a flannel graph Bible story, and handwork

to

g o

along

with

the story—to

help

them remember

things

from

God's Word.

For

the past

month

o ur hearts have sung

forth

praises unto God for

the

wonderful

way

in which

He

helps the

children

retain His

Trues.

The

children

tel l the Gospel

stories

back

to

us,

and seem to remember all the important facts. Isn't it wonderful to see

God's

Word taking root

in young

people's lives?

It

lifts one spiritually

and streng

thens

him

in

the

Lord,

when he can see

the Gospel seeds taking

effect. Isn't Go d

wonderful

and marvel ous beyond words? We

know

He is, o r He is

always

by

our

side.

Each nonday and T hursday afternoon

I

travel

to

Stuttgart for German language

s t u c f y . Through ny studies there, I met an Italian

young

man,

called

j y i r . Demorea.

When we f irst

met, he seemed to have no concern

about

spiritual

things.

During

the l a n g u a g e

stu^, w e w e r e

a s k e d

w h a t w e d r a n k , w h e t h e r

or

not w e s m o k e d ,

; d i a t

our

occupation

was, etc. From

this,

one

thing led

to another. Mr.

Demorea

would

always

want

to

ride

i j i t h

me on the train, but

he

at first

always

preferred

to

ride in the smoking car. Of

co urse, this

bothered me, and

so

I told him I

would prefer

to

ride

in

the non-smok ers' b ar every

other week,

but

that he c ou l d

d o

as he pleased. He readil y agreed that

my

suggestion

was fine. T hen

I egan to

notice,

as the weeks and mo nths

went

by,

that

he wasn't smoking hardl y at

all.

One evening

though,

he took

me

con^letely by surprise.

He

ask me what I

thought

about the

Catholic

Church. I

told him

I c oul d

bn3y

accept

what

was

written

in

the Bible,

and

that

anything

that

contradicted

the

Bible, I ou ld

not

accept.

From that

day

on, his

spiritual

interest grew, and

weekly

he

asks me more

and

more

about

God's

Word,

and

His teachings.

V J e can only converse in German,

b ut

through it, e are groxd ng spiritually

as wel l

as learning the German lang uage.

Pl3n.se pray fo r this young man, as he

is

hungering

after

- t h e Living Manna

t h r . i : - f o r

which

his soul yearns. The Lord

can

use him in a

wonderful

way—telling

tb o iv ot souls in Italy

o f Christ's

great love— if we

will

pray for him and

h o i i p

j - : i d

him to our-great

Savior.

PLEASE

d o

YOUR part to

help

him come to

k n . o w

Christ,—PRAy for

him each day. Help him to share in

the

sweet communion

with our

Savior, as

we

d o .

We w ou l d also like to ask you to.pray for one of o ur sisters in Christ Jesus.

She

is

an

immersed believer

in

Christ,

and strives

to

serve

Him

to

her ful lest.

But she has

heart

trouble, and has been v eiy weak and

must

rest for several hours


10/16

each afternoon, plus take medicine

dally. This

has been

so

hard

on her, as

she

so

desires

t o come t o Bible Study

and fellowship

with

us,

b ut i s

n o t

allowed t o

do so .

Please

take

her

burden before the

Lord

i n prayer, as

you

take your own. This will

help

her so

very much. And God will

bless y i ^ u for s h o w i n g concern, and e x t e n d i n g

a helping hand to a

sister

in

Christ whom you have

never seen.

I

suppose

you too

get depressed and down-hearted , just as

I

do. For at times

it seems as though I have accomplished nothiig for our Lord. And

v i h e n

this

feel

ing strikes, I think of the

p a s s a g e in

Galatians

6:9

And let us not g r o w weary

in well-doing:

for

in due season we shall reap

i f

we faint not. Also,

a

song

comes

to ny

mind which helps

me

so

very much. This

I

would like

to

share with

you. Perhaps it will

help

you

spiritually

as

it has helped me. It does like this:

I

traveled down a lonely

road

and n o one seemed t o care5 The burden on

ny weary back had

bowed

me t o despair; I oft complained t o Jesus how

folks were

treating

me.

And then

I

heard Him say so tenderly: feet

were

also

weaiy, upon

the

Calv'ry road,

the cross became do heavy, I

fell beneath

the

l o a d . B e

f a i t h f u l ,

weary pilgrim , t h e morning I can

see;

J u s t

l i f t y o u r cross and

f o l l o w

close to Me.

I

work so

hard

for

Jesus, I

often

boast and

say;

I^ve

sacrificed

a

lot

of things

to

walk

the

narrow way,

I

gave

up

fame

and

fortune;

I*m worth

a

l o t t o Thee.

A nd then I hear

H i m gently say t o

m e:

I

left

the throne of glory

and

counted it but loss; i ^ y

hands

were

nailed in anger upon

a

cruel cross. But now we^11 make the

joiimey

with your hand safe in Mine;

So

lift your cross and

follow

close

to Me

0 esus, i f I

die

upon

a foreign

field

someda y, 'Twould be

no

more than love demands, no

loss

could I repay.

No

hreater

love

hath mortal man than for a friend to

die,

these are the words He

gently spole to

me. If

just

a

cup of water I

place

within your

hand,

then just a

cup

of

water is

all that 1

demand,

But i f

by death to living they

can

Thy glory see, I'll take

my

cross and

follow close

to

Theel

May

our

loving Father bless

you as you

labor

unendingly

for Himi

Yours in Christ Jesus

Alva, Janice,

and Deborah Ann

Phillips

Please send all slide and displey requests to our forwarding agent,

giving

two

prefered

dates. Also,

PLEASE send

all

slides and

display

materials back i m m «

i m m e d i a t e l y

a f t e r u s e .

T h i s is a MUST. Please let u s know

o f a n y

c h a nge

o f

ad

dressl

ThankYouil

. r £ 3 T OVJOSSO Non Profit

Org.

CHURCH

OF CHRIST U.

3.

Postage

1 1 9 Hoyt St PAID

D w c a so

Ow o s s o , M i c h .

Mich i ga n U6867 Permit j f Z O

M V i W.E. McGilvrey

^09

J e f f e r s o n A v e

Joliet,

111- 60434


11/16

Field

address

7261 Staminheim

Krs.

Calw

Hauptstrasse

13 West GermarQr

Dear

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

FORWARDING

AGENT

Black Forest Christian Mission

P.O. Box h6S91

Cincinnati,

Ohio,

U 5 2 l i 6

July, 1965

Newsletter

Therefore, I say unto

you,

Take no

thought

for your life,

what

ye shall

eat,

or

what ye shall

drink;

nor

yet

for

your bod y, what ye shall put on.

Is

not the

life

more than

meat,

and the body more

than

rainment? (Matthew 6:25)

Yes,

God careth for

His

own.

He is a

wonderful Lord, who means only what

He says,

and

keeps His

V J o r d .

Last Thursday

evening as Alva was coming home

for language study

in

Stuttgart, he experienced something he never hopes to experience again. The train

in

which he was riding in, was given the green light, to pull out of the

station

and

be on its way.

After

pulling

out

of

the station, the train

crossed

another track.

It

was very dark out, and therefore, as the train Alva was on started across the

other

tracks,

which were to

have

been cleared,

the

train hit the

end of

a freight

train. Only the engineer and three or four

other

persons were injured.

Praise

be

to

God, MO ONE was

killed. We

truly thank God that

Alva

was unhurt. But the train was

a wreck. Alva

usually

arrives

home

about 10;00

P.M.

each Monday and Thursday eve

nings, but last

week he did

not

show-up

at 10:00

P.M.I After

all

the

details were

recorded, concerning the wreck,

all

of the passengers were taken to their destinations

by

a

bus. Alva

arrived home a

t 11 We were so thankful to God fod

His

watch and

care over Alva. This helped

us

to realize, Just

that

much more, our purpose for

be

ing

here. The Lord

has

a work to be

done,

and at

the present we

are alone to

do the

work for our Lord in the

Black

Forest

area.

He

brought

us here, provided for us,

and

watches over us,

as

we

strive

to serve

our

wonderful Lord in our weak and feeble way.

We truly need

your

prayers for us—that we may have the physical strength, the cour

age,

the spiritual strength and the

wisdom, to

face what lies ahead

for

us. We can

not live and serve our

Lord

at

our best,

without

your

prayers. Please

remember this.

Prayer

is

the key to spiritual riches. Let us use

this

key DAILYI

Through the Lord's help and guidance, there are now three

services being

conducted

for the furtherance

for the

Savior's

Kingdom. There is

now Bible study

on

Sunday

evenings,

on

or

from the

book of Acts. The Bible study group on Tuesday evenings

a t u d i e s from the b o o k of

Matthew—and in

both cases, it

is a

verse by verse study,

a l w a y s c o n d u c t e d in

a family

c i r c l e f a s h i o n .

Every

p e r s o n is g i v e n

a n

o p p o r t u n i t y

to express his or her feelings on the Bible

passages, as

we go

along.

This has

pro

ven

to

be

a

spiritual

help to

each person who

comes.

Than

on each V J e d n e s d a y after

noon, the children

have their

Bible

hour.

They are

now

studying about

the

Old

Test

ament heroes. And at the

present,

that happens to

be Moses.

We have

already

studies

about his

birth, and will

learn

of his experience

with

the burning bush, then his

go

ing

before

Pharaoh, the deliverance, a n d then the giving of the law a n d the e n t e r i n g

of the promised

land.

Most

of these

things

are completely new

to

the German children.

We had one child tell us that we had made

a

mistake in telling the

birth

of

Moses.

So

w e

h a d

her

tell

u s

h o w s h e t h o u g h t

it

s h o u l d

go.

W h e n s h e f i n i s h e d w e

w e r e

q u i t e

surprised,

for

it contradicted the

Scriptures.

Then we opened

up

God's

Word,

a n d

showed

her

what God had to say

about Moses's

birth. It is truly x - j o n d e r f u l that we

don't have to take man's word for things, or

we

really would be confused. All we

need

to

do

is turn

to God's V / o r d and He makes all things clear.

May God's abiding love g o with you forever.

Your

co-laborers

for Christ,

Alva and Janice and Deborah

Phillips


12/16

The financial report

for

March, April, May and Jxme of—1965.

March

Rent and utilities

Groceries

Personal

expense

Household furnish.

Medicine

Baby expense

ithe

brought

forward

Mar.

100,65

55.86

19?71

1.70

Monthl y salary 300.00

Personal gifts

10.00

--Balance -en -hand

June

30

April

29.91

6U.02

66,2ii

May

55.17

53.91

U7.09

ii.66

25.00

(Unlisted)

15.76

Jiane

32738"

76.77

59. U

19.Uii

l.lh

300.00 300.00

300.00

20,00

109.52

•

207.92

219.83 201.93 226.37 = 856.05

1200.00

30.00

hQy.hr

MISSION REPORT

March

Mar.

brought

forward

Travel

19.27

Postage 3,35

Film

Schooling \h.lS

Office

Supplies

l i . O O

Office Equipment

(a

file

cabinet)

Display materials

Teaching

materials

5.36

Car

expense

Evangelism

12.26

Totals

58.99

April

17.2U

13.78

17.89

12.00

.62

15.96

27.01

314.02

23.70

May

11.30

12,00

12.66

6.55

June

15:^

15.00

11.77

12.00

2.50

116.37

5.72

10.i*5

11.90

162.22

1 5 9 7 7 1

189.36

=

U70.28

Monthly salary 196.00

Mission

gifts

_ 55,00

Balance o n

hand

June 30

196.00

196.00

196.00

2..00_ ..-10..0C)^^-l8l.-00-

(due

to change

over)

78U.OO

2ii8.0O-

515.50

W e

t r u l y

w a n t t o t h a n k e a c h a n d e v e r y o n e o f y o u f o r

y o u r

f a i t h f u l s u p p o r t a n d p r a y

t h a t

G o d

w i l l

b l e s s

y o u

a s r i c h l y a s G o d , t h r o u g h y o u , h a v e b l e s s e d u s . M a y H i s

C o m i o r t e r

go ever

with you.

Love in Christ

Jesus,

The Phillips Family

IffiST

OWOSSO

CHURCH OF CHRIST

119

Hoyt

St,

Owpsso

Michigan

1x8867

Non-Profit O r g ,

U. S. Postage

PAID

Owosso, Mich.

Permit

20

MA W.E. McGilvrey

509 Jefferson Ave.

Joliet,

111.

60434


13/16

FIELD

ADDRESS

Mr. Mrs.

Alva A.

Phillips

7261 Stammheim Krs. Calw

Hauptstrasse 13,

West Germany

FORWARDING AGENT

Black

Forest

Christian Miss,

P.O. Box 1^6597

Cincin nati, Ohio, U52U6

August, 1 9 6 5

Newsletter

Dear Brothers

and

Sisters

in Christ,

As

we

look

out over

the

harvest-field of

Germany,

we see a people—a

nation—

that is

tired and weary from the world's cares, and are

seeking

rest,

but

cannot find

it. Those

that

are athi rst, look

in the

towns and cities but there is no w ater

to

be found.

They

are a people, hungerin g often the bread of

life

but can

find no

on e

to give it too them. These

lost

souls are filled with the traditions

of

men, but

these are no longer satisfying

to

their hungry so^ls, for

it is

living

manna,

which

they are hung ering after.

This

nation

is

MATERIALLY

rich but

spiritually

dead.

Millions here

are

going

to

a Ch ristless eternity. Our

brothers

and sisters in Christ,

what can

we

ou and

I —do

about

this

situation?

In Germany,

there are no

pagans

or cannibals,

as

we

think

of,

when

Africa

is men

tioned,

But

these people are pagans

i n

the sense that

they

are

lost

without Christ.

The souls

here

are

blind

to the basic Gospel Truths—that you

and

I

take

for granted.

For

the most part, thei r

hearts

here

are

filled

with

the w isdom of

men,

but

are

i n

total

darkness

when it comes to the spiritual wi sdom and the love of our wonderful

Savior. What

does

this mean

to

you and I? This means one THING You and I call

ourselves Ch ristiansj

but

we

have failed to

live

it.

How

can I say that?

It's

all

very simple.

If

we had

lived for Christ in

our work,

our fun, our vacations, our

parties, and

our

homes,

the whole world

would

be completely different.

If

we were

all

really Chri stians, our n eighbors would be going

to

church with us — ecause we show

ed them Ch rist through our

living,

and

by

our giving them a personal in vitation. If

we're afraid

to

live

Christ in

ALL thir-gs ow can w e expect

to

ever go

to

Heaven

with

Christ?

The

Apostle Paul

says deny

self and

our lives will be

magnified in

Christ Jesus. f J h a t can you and I

do

about the situation in Germany

n

the world?

We

can forget about

SELF

and begin telling others about Ch rist. Material thin gs are

nothing, but spiritual life

and blessin gs are

ETERNAL. Which

are

you seriously

striv

in g for? Please take a quic k survey of your life — hen set

it

right with Ch rist,

I

believe

one of the most wonderful

experiences

that

a

laborer,

for

the

Lord can

go through, is

to

see the Ch ristians themselves back up thei r leader and worker with

their

help

and support.

We

have experienc ed this during the past few months and

it

has given

us a real spiri tual boost. Th is type

of

encouragement causes us

to

set

forth with a stronger zeal to work even harder for our Master, But it seems as

though

the

harder we

work

for

the Lord,

the harder

the devil strikes

back. At times we

feel

like packing up and movin g

out

of here, but how can we? These people too

need

to know

about Chri st no

matter

the barriers the devil throws in our place. Please pray,

hard

er than ever before,

for

us

—

hat

we

wi ll always have the spiritual strength to go

on for Him,

These

people here also need

your

faithful

prayers.

The Ch ristians are

fighting

a constant battle

also

with the

devil

and hi s forces.

It seems

as though

the Gospel

has

hit upon

guilty

hearts

and

has thus

caused

a

rebellion

against

the Lord's efforts

here. Do you see

now

x ^ r h y we need your prayers

DAILY?

Because

of the

Gospel pricking

sin ful hearts,

Ch ristians are

in the firing line. It's won derful to know that

we.

have

a

Savior who

sees

all things,

knows

all things and understands all things. With

God's help, we know that His Spirit will move among the

lost

souls of Stammheim an d

Germany, This can only be fulfilled through faithful prayers. Please do your part

to

help spread the Gospel.

Help

other

reapers to

help

answer this plea. We

need

workers

to

labor

with us. We know that

unless the Gospel is spread

these souls

will

be lost eternally.

We

must give Christ

to

the people, through your

prayers

and ef

forts

as

well as ours.


14/16

The July

-

December

issue

of

Living

Water in the midst o f

a

desert is now

ready

for y o u . A l l

y o u n e e d

t o

d o

i s mail

a p o s i c a r d

to

o u r f o r w a r d i n g . a g e n t a n d tell

how many copies you wo uld like, and they will send them on to

you, I'm sure

yo u

w i l l want to have a t l e as t

o ne

c o p y.

Concerni ng packages, w e ask t h a t y o u m a i l a l l packages di rectl y t o u s. T h i s w i l l

help to

lessen

o ur f o rwarding

agents labors

—

hich are too many. They have labored

faithfully f o r our Lord, helping us to correspond and send receipts. This alone

is

a f u l l time job. Therefor e,

we

ask you to please

help

them in their l a b o r s

f o r

Him,

b y mailing all packages

directly

to

us.

Thank

y ou

f o r your f aithful prayers and

support.

In His Service,

Al va , J a n i c e ,

&

D e b o r a h P h i l l i p s

WEST

OWOSSO

CHURCH

OF CHRIST

19

H o y t St,

wosso

(Michigan

Ii8867

N o n - p r o f i t

Org,

U.S. Postage

P ID

Owosso, Mich,

Permit 20

M/M W,E. McGilvrey

509 Jefferson Ave.

J o l i e t , 111. 60434


15/16

FIELD ADDRE33

Mr. Mrs.

Alva

Phillips

7261

S t a r a m h e i m ,

Krs. Calw.

Hauptstrasse 1 3

-

V / e s t Germany

FORWAPDING AGENT

Black

Forest Christian Mission

P.O.

Box 46397

Cincinnati Ohio

43246

September I963 Newsletter

Dear Loved Ones in Christ

I s i t p o s s i b l e t h a t a n o t h e r m o n t h h a s r a p i d l y s p e d b y ? T r u l y t h i s h a s b e e n

a

b u s y

m o n t h ,

a s

w e l l

a s a

s p i r i t u a l l y r e w a r d i n g m o n t h .

P e r h a p s

t h a t

i s

w h y

i t

w e n t b y

s o

rapidly, unnoticed.

T h e f i r s t w e e k o f

A u g u s t

a

C h r i s t i a n h e r e

i n

S t a m m h e i m

c a m e t o u s w i t h a r e q u e s t .

I n

C a l w a g r o u p

of

C h r i s t i a n s h a d

b e e n

m e e t i n g in an o l d

Hall

a n d it w o u l d s c o n

b e

c l o s e d d o w n . T h e C h r i s t i a n s

w o u l d

t h e n h a v e n o

w h e r e

t o m e e t .

A l s o ,

t h e i r l e a d e r

w h o i s a w o r k e r h e r e i n G e r m a n y , w o u l d n o t b o a b l e

t o

w o r k

h e r e

f u l l t i m e

a n y m o r e .

T h e r e f o r e ,

t h e y

w a n t e d

t o

k n o w i f

w e

w o u l d b e w i l l i n g

t o h e l p

t h e m o u t , a n d i f t h e r e

w a s

a n y

p o s s i b i l i t y

of t h e m

m e e t i n g h e r e . T h e a n s w e r ,

of

c o u r s e , w a s

" y e s " .

T h e y

h a v e ^ m e t

h e r e t h e l a s t

t h r e e w e e k s

o f . l u g u s t o n

T h u r s d a y e v e n i n g s . It h a s b e e n a

^ s p i r i t u a l l y

r e w a r d i n g t i m e . B u t w e h a v e

a l s o

h a d t o m a k e s o m e a d j u s t m e n t s , s u c h a s

p r a y i n g

t o g e t h e r

a s a g r o u p , a n d

o f

c o u r s e , t h e s o n g s w e k n o w s o w e l l

b e i n g

s u n g i n

' j e r m a n .

This

is

the biggest adjustmen t. Each week

the

group has been

larger; praise

be t o

God

b

A n d

t h i s w a s o n l y

t h e

b e g i n n i n i n g , I w a s

t h e n

a s k

if

I

w o u l d

h e l p

w i t h a g r o u p

o f

C h r i s t i a n s ^ m e e t i n g i n P f o r z h e i m . O f c o u r s e , I

w a s

t h r i l l e d t o h a v e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o

d o s o . T h i s t o w n

o r

c i t y i s 1 h o u r ' s d r i v e f r o m S t a r a m h e i m , b u t t h e b l e s s i n g s f r o m i t

a r e

b e y o n d

m e a s u r e ,

V / h i l e

I w a s t h e r e t h e

l a s t

S u n d a y

i n

A u g u s t , a y o u n g m a n b e g a n

t h r i l l i n g

things which I want

t o

share

w i t h

you. He was born

in

Y u g o

s l a v i a ,

a n d

c a m e t o G e r m a n y , H e s a i d

t h e r e

a r e

m a n y

C h r i s t i a n s

i n

h i s h o m e l ^ a n d

w h o

m e e t i n

s e c r e t

a s t h i s

i s

c o n s i d e r e d a C o m m u n i s t c o u n t r y . A n d t h a t t h e s e p e o p l e a r e

very dedicated

to

our Savior He went on

to

say that he knew of other smal l Christian

groups meet ing in this surrounding

area.

H e was so thrilled

to

have a n Ame rican come

t o G e r m a n y

t o

t e l l

o t h e r s

a b o u t

C h r i s t , H e v ; o u l d l i k e v e r y m u c h

f o r

u s t o c o m e

t o

t h e s e

s e r v i c e s

t o o , b u t

a t t h e p r e s e n t

i t

i s n e a r l y i m p o s s i b l e .

F o r

i n s t a n c e ,

m y s c h -

e d u l e ^ g o e s g e n e r a l l y l i k e t h i s : M o n d a y - s t u d y

a n d

g o t o l a n g u a g e s c h o o l ; T u e s d a y - s t u d y

f o r B i b l e , g o

c a l l i n g

w h e n t i m e

p e r m i t s ,

a n d h o l d

B i b l e

S t u d y ,

p r a y e r m e e y i n g ,

a n d

t h e

L o r d s S u p p e r f o r t h e C h r i s t i a n s of S t a m m h e i m ; V / e d n e s d a y - s t u d y f o r C h i l d r e n ' s

B i b l e

h o u r , h o l d

C h r i l d r e n ' s

h o u r , a n d g o c a l l i n g

i n

t h e

e v e n i n g ;

T h u r s d a y - s t u d y f o r s c h o o l

a n d

g o t o l a n g u a g e

s c h o o l

f r o m

4

u n t i l 9 i s t w h i c h t i m e I a r r i v e h o m e ,

o r

s h o r t l y a f

ter a n d then g o

t o

w o r s h i p service in the Chapel The services

a r e

from 8

o 10.

T h e f i r s t t i m e

I

w a s t a k e n c o m p l e t e l y b y s u r p r i s e ,

a s

I w a s a s k t o s p e a k , a f t e r t h e

f i r s t o n e f i n i s h e d s p e a k i n g

o r

p r e a c h i n g . U s u a l l y t h r e e o f u s s p e a k e a c h

t i m e , F r i

d a y i s c a t c h - u p " d a y ,

a n d

c a l l i n g d a y .

S a t u r d a y

i s " c l e a n - u p " d a y a t o u r h o u s e a n d

a n t h e c h a p e l ,

^ W h e n

t h i s i s

f i n i s h e d , w e

t r y t o

s p e n d

e n

h o u r t o g e t h e r

a s

a

f a m i l y ,

b u t

i t i s s o m e t i m e s i m p o s s i b l e , S u n d a y i s

t h e

L o r d ' s

D a y .

. W e

s t u d y G o d ' s

W o r d t o

g e t h e r as

a

f a m i l y , l i s t e n t o

a n

e x c e l l e n t p r o g r a m o n

t h e

r a d i o f o r o n e - h a l f h o u r .

T h e n

i t

i s t i m e

f o r u s

t o

g o

t o P f o r z h e i m f r o m

3

t o 3

o r

C h u r c h ,

t h e

L o r d ' s S u p p e r ,

a n d

f e l l o w s h i p . I

a l s o

h e l p

i n

t h e s e r v i c e s

t h e r e ,

b y s p e a k i n g

a n d

s e r v i n g .

I o f t e n

f e e l t h a t I ' m

t o o

b u s y

t o d o m o r e

f o r

t h e

L o r d . B u t

w h e n

I

r e c a l l H i s

p r o m i s e s , a n d

His

c o m m a n d s ,

I can only

g i v e G o d

full command and

f o l l o w .

G o d ' s K i n g d o m i s

m o v i n g

f o r w a r d i n G e r m a n y , W e h a v e c o m e t o r e a l i z e t h i s t h r o u g h

t h e

C h r i l d r e n ' s

H o u r , O n e y o u n g g i r l c o m e

t o

u s t h r e e w e e k s

a g o

a n d

w a n t e d t o

k n o w

w h y s h e h a d

n o t

b e e n b a p t i z e d

as a

b a b y . W e

p r o c e e d e d

t o s h o w h e r t h a t C h r i s t s a i d w e

m u s t B E L I E V E a n d t h e n b e b a p t i z e d ( M a r k

l 6 : l 6 )

a n d t h a t a b a b y c a n n o t b e l i e v e , m u c h

l e s s u n d e r s t a n d . T h e n s h e

w a n t e d

t o

k n o w

w h a t s h e

h a d

t o

d o

t o

b e

b a p t i z e d .

S h e

c o m e s ^ f a i t h f u l l y

e a c h w e e k ,

a n d

w i t h f a i t h f u l

p r a y e r s

o n R u t h ' s b e h a l f , I k n o w t h a t

s h e w i l l s o o n

s t e p

o u t

f o r C h r i s t .

It

w o n ' t b e

e a s y

f o r h e r ,

b u t w i t h C h r i s t a s h e r

g u i d e she will b e m o r e

t h a n

C o n q u e r o r Please pray for Ruth.

She

is

a w o n d e r f u l

y o u n g

lady of

11 y e a r s old.


16/16

We have also seen another

s e o v i of

the Gospel taking r o o t , due to the Children s

Hour,

phillips alva janice 1965 germany

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