peter-schild-mtns

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I write to you with great gratitude for your faithful prayers and support. The knowledge that our work is supported by your care and intercession is a great encouragement to me. It is my privilege to give you insight into the current events in my life and that of the church.

1) News from the family: 

We thank our God that my beloved wife Priscilla is pregnant again. God willing, we expect our fourth child in April next year. My wife is currently suffering from severe pregnancy sickness with weakness and pain; may I ask you to pray for her, that the LORD may strengthen her and protect the unborn life? I need a lot of grace and wisdom during this time, not to neglect my family and yet to faithfully fulfill my duties to the church. My eldest son, Josiah, was enrolled in first grade a few weeks ago, which brings major changes to our everyday lives. He visits a Christian school; Home-schooling is a criminal offense in Germany. I beseech you to pray for my son, that the LORD may keep him from evil, and that we, as parents, have wisdom for the education of our children.

 We thank our God that my beloved wife Priscilla is pregnant again. God willing, we expect our fourth child in April next year. My wife is currently suffering from severe pregnancy sickness with weakness and pain; may I ask you to pray for her, that the LORD may strengthen her and protect the unborn life? I need a lot of grace and wisdom during this time, not to neglect my family and yet to faithfully fulfill my duties to the church. My eldest son, Josiah, was enrolled in first grade a few weeks ago, which brings major changes to our everyday lives. He visits a Christian school; Home-schooling is a criminal offense in Germany. I beseech you to pray for my son, that the LORD may keep him from evil, and that we, as parents, have wisdom for the education of our children.

2) Stay in Austria:

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel, with my family, to Austria in the mountains (Ramsau am Dachstein). During the week, we daily communed with a Christian family who lovingly hosted us. During my stay, I tried to nurture a young man in the right understanding of God’s Word and on Sunday I served a small gathering. It was a great encouragement to see how joyfully the Word of God was received, even by those who are only “on the way to” becoming Christians. Please pray for this small group, which is carefully seeking to start their own church.

One day I joined with some brothers and sisters at the so-called “Predigtstuhl”, a striking rock formation in the mountains. A few hundred years ago, the Protestant faith was forbidden here and the faithful gathered secretly high up in the mountains to pray, sing and study the Bible. It puts me to shame to think about how these Christians toiled each Sunday to gather under God’s Word. They had a long, arduous journey in wind and weather, no building (not even a roof over their heads) and they suffered persecution! But the LORD was in their midst and blessed them! The village eventually became Protestant, in a Catholic environment. Even today, the Luther rose in the coat of arms of the town reminds of this miracle. At the top of the pulpit, we read the word of God, I gave a short prayer and we prayed and sang happily to the glory of the LORD (“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). May the Lord bless Austria with His gospel and many more faithful congregations!

3) Church life in Frankfurt, Germany:

We praise the Lord for His constant faithfulness to us. We are experiencing how the church grows in Christlikeness but also in number. We plan to baptize soon and ask for your prayers in this regard. In particular, we ask for intercession for a married couple, a young mother and a young woman who profess to have found faith. Others have applied for church membership and we hope to have new brothers/sisters soon. 

As a church, we are still looking for a suitable building, but we must confess, in praise of God, that we have always had a place to gather. On Sunday morning, we gather in a college or retirement home, in the evening in an American community, who kindly provide their premises. We want our own building, but we know that our God is leading us and we are trusting in His care.

As I completed my long sermon series through the Revelation, we decided to give some sermons on various topics: What does it mean to be a man/woman of God?, How to win a spouse in a godly manner, etc. ? Please pray that the Lord will use these sermons as, sadly, there is great ignorance in this area, in our country. 

In the past few weeks, we have been busy preparing for our conference in late September. For the three-day conference entitled “What is a healthy church” about 140 participants registered.

We are very grateful that faithful men like Voddie Baucham, James Renihan, Barry and Ryan King will serve us in the Word. Please pray that this conference brings forth fruit for the glory of God. We wish very much that Germany is characterized by healthy churches.

Please pray for us, as a congregation, as we consider the topic of church-planting more and more. There are some places where it may be possible, one day, to start a church-planting work, if the Lord leads that way. Above all, we need the right men, whom the Lord has singled out and equipped for the service of church-planting. For this purpose, it is also in our heart to, one day, found a preacher seminary within the church. We already support men in our midst but we want to expand this more, in the future. How much Germany needs Bible-faithful and Spirit-filled preachers. Please pray for us, as we are very anxious to train men and establish churches for the honor of the LORD.

May the LORD repay you for all the prayers and the care!

In deep gratitude,

Peter