News Update

Our Christmas carol service last Sunday evening proved to be an occasion that brought together many of our friends and personal contacts over the years we have been in Utzenfeld. It was also good to have one or two new faces. The weather was snowy but in contrast with Britain, somehow our Black Forest folk seem to feel that the worse the weather the greater the challenge to venture forth and face the elements.

Our programme of Scripture readings and carols lasted about an hour and in the concluding 'meditation' Len emphasised that without receiving the Lord Jesus with a personal faith it is impossible to worship Him with the shepherds and wise men or to experience the real joy of Christmas. We pray that this Christmas may prove to be the time that many all around the world worship the Son of God with a believing mind and a true heart. He is no longer a baby in Bethlehem, no longer the suffering Saviour on the cross, but the risen and ascended Lord Jesus who through the Gospel message is calling men and women everywhere to turn from a selfish and sinful way of life to enjoy 'without money and without price' all the benefits He has purchased for us at great price.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." 2 Cor 8:9

1. Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becomest poor.

2. Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenwards by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man.

3. Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.

Frank Houghton (1894-1972)

News Update

Today Phyl celebrates her 65th birthday! Wow, where have the years gone? We are still in the UK and are just completing an interesting and helpful tour visiting several Churches and friends in the north and east of Britain. After many years we met up again with one of Phyl's earliest friends. They started school together in 1950! Here they are together after more than 60 years. We were very pleased with the 'reunion and information meetings' we had both in Yorkshire and Essex and it was so encouraging to find that some friends motored more than 100 miles to see us again! We also thank and praise the Lord for the kindness of those who have given us such generous hospitality during our time here.
We've still got room in Haus Barnabas over Christmas! Why not come and join us.

News Update

For some, Sunday afternoon walks in the autumn can be just as enjoyable as in the summer if you are dressed appropriately! In fact October this year has given us some wonderful sunny days with only a blip one weekend when snow fell and settled down to a height of 800 m. Guests returning from a visit to Titisee commented that the view of the lake was blanketed out by large flakes of driving snow. Although in general it has been a mild autumn.
Phyl & Len are at present in UK and have set up office in the dining room of the kind and longsuffering David and Margaret Harman in Ashford. We head north and east in the middle of next week for visits and meetings in a number of places including an open 'reunion and information' afternoon in Otley, Yorkshire. Join us if you are able at Bethel Hall, Myers Croft, Otley LS21 3JG at 3.30pm on Sat 12th Nov., or if it's closer in Basildon, Essex on Sat 19th at Kingswood Baptist Church SS16 5DH again at 3.30 pm. On this afternoon you are invited to join us in a bring and share tea followed by an evening session with missionary reports by both Len and also David Quin from Asia Link Ministries. Don't hesitate to email us if you want more information about these meetings.

News Update

Autumn is here again and the maple tree opposite the house, as seen in the picture, is in full colour once again. Phyl & Len are frantically finalising a year-end news report and a calendar/brochure and numerous other things ready to leave for UK in the last week of October.

Those of you in the north and east of Britain may be interested to join us at "Reunion and Information" meetings we are arranging in Otley, Yorkshire and Basildon, Essex. It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible.

Saturday 12th November - 3.30pm in Bethel Hall, Myers Croft, Otley LS21 3JG - We plan a fairly informal time when we talk about the work and bring you pictures, mostly taken by our guests, leading into a short devotional time with opportunity for prayer and concluding with refreshments. Any queries please contact Mrs Elaine Wilkinson on 01943 461367

Saturday 19th November at Kingswood Baptist Church, Codenham Straight, Basildon, Essex SS16 5DH

3.30pm – 5pm We, Len & Phyl share the vision God has given us for Haus Barnabas with up-to-date news

5pm Bring and share tea with fellowship

6pm – 8pm Worship and news about Gospel outreach from both Len & Phyl in the Black Forest of Germany and from David Quin from Asia Link Ministries. David Quin will bring a closing message.

Any queries please contact David Barnes 01268 475297

We are pleased to have a continuing stream of guests during October with one or two giving of their time to help in practical ways too. Also a young Christian man from St Petersburg, Russia was able to obtain a visa and is now with us probably until the end of the year. It's encouraging to see the house a hive of activity and our morning prayers when we can commit everything to the Lord's control, over-ruling and blessing is so very, very important to us all.

News Update

Tom and Esther are an integral part of the team in Haus Barnabas and play an essential role in keeping the house young! Their involvement in the children's part of our Sunday worship and Bible ministry is also greatly appreciated. Tom doesn't yet lead any of the songs with the guitar, that's still his mother's gifted contribution to the worship but as the picture shows it doesn't look as though it will be long before he can play his part too. Phyl is also teaching him the key board and violin!
Esther started 'proper' school this week and here she is with her school bag and the traditional German 'Schultüte'. This is a similar idea to a Christmas stocking. In it the parents give the child on his/her first day of school presents of both things for school such as exercise books and coloured pencils etc and sweets and other little gifts.
September has been a quieter time for us as far as guests in the house is concerned, which is a pity as the weather was been for the most part sunny and warm and as we come towards the end of the month the leaves are beginning to turn to display their beautiful autumn mode of dress.
We have so much reason to join the angel in singing their song of Isaiah 6:2:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!"

News Update

The following comment from a church group which left us yesterday has warmed out hearts - "Our experience this year has even surpassed our visit of last year. We are saying a sincere thank you by coming back in 2012, but for a longer time! The fellowship and the loving Christian warmth that we received from you all at Haus Barnabas is priceless. A wonderful uplifting, joyous time. We go home to our daily lives refreshed in body and spirit. Thank you. With all our love. "
One of the memorable trips of the week was a drive to Engelberg in the Swiss Alps and the picture shows one of the group making his way cautiously up to the peak of Mt Titlis (10,623 ft) after ascending most of the way by cable car. The final evening of the week was very precious as we shared fellowship and worship together in song, Bible reading and prayer.
We have room for more church groups coming for retreats and holidays and would happily try to arrange to visit you by invitation to promote such at your Church or home group fellowship.
The aims of Haus Barnabas are encouragement and Gospel outreach - come and be refreshed and encouraged and at the same time your payment of our recommended rate enables us to maintain a local Gospel witness and to provide a sanctuary of loving spiritual encouragement to others whom God sends to us.

News Update

On a recent visit of Phyl's sister and her husband we were delighted to be able to have a family meal together with both our sons and their families. In the picture above the only grandchild missing is Sophia who was spending a few days with her other grandparents.
Swiss schools have now returned for their autumn term so it's quite amazing to think the summer is rapidly drawing to a close. We still have a good number of busy weeks before us though and the temperature in the Black Forest is threatening to creep up into the 30s in the next few days.
The international nature of Haus Barnabas has been encouragingly obvious this year with a number of Dutch families joining us for our Sunday worship, guests staying with us from India and Israel and during the next few weeks both Chinese and Pakistani guests expected for a few days.

News Update

Another visit from the 'Sportsreach' ladies www.sportsreach.org.uk was a great success and enjoyed by us all. The house was extremely lively and thankfully the girls had it to themselves with a total of 19 when three German young ladies joined them for the weekend. They put up a strong football team playing two matches in our local Schönau sports stadium. The first against a visiting men's team from Bern, Switzerland they won 3-2 and they then drew 2-2 against our Schönau ladies' team. After each match they were able to share the Gospel of the love of Jesus to the opposing team and distribute literature. They attracted a lot of attention in a positive way and demonstrated clearly that living for Jesus is no way a dull affair! Their participation in our Sunday service and the concert they put on for ourselves and the neighbourhood on Monday evening was a tremendous blessing although we would love to have had a greater response to the adverts we put out for the latter.

News Update

With the summer holiday now underway it has been good this past week to welcome Dutch families with us, both to our Sunday service and Wednesday Bible Study. Two families holidaying together contributed to our worship with two of their Dutch hymns and one brother translated much of the service into Dutch particularly for the benefit of the children. It gives us much joy to see Haus Barnabas used as a place of fellowship and worship for believers of many nationalities and sense this is an important part of God's purpose for us. It is also extremely encouraging to find Christian families who, immediately on their arrival at their holiday location, Saturday evening, motor around to find the most appropriate place to worship Sunday morning!

Our text last Sunday was from 1 Chron 29:10-12:-

"Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honour come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all."

We say our amen to King David's prayer.

News Update

The past week with our guest preacher, Steve Wyncoll was a great time of fellowship and blessing. It was a full week of holiday activities and the pictures will bring back memories to many of you who have holidayed with us. But in addition to our regular daily morning devotions with Daily Manna, Steve brought us a message each evening from the life of Elisha.
To find out more of Steve's regular ministry in his home church in Waldingfield, Suffolk see his church's website www.waldringfieldbc.org.uk

We still have accommodation available in July and August so if you are still wondering about a holiday do contact us.

News Update

It has been a very enjoyable fortnight with our 'birdwatching and nature' theme weeks. In addition to the walks and outings the guests made by themselves I, Len, was able to accompany them on four occasions and we visited interesting locations rather less accessible by foot and public transport, the gorge of the river Wuchtach, the Kaiserstuhl and our more local Nonnenmattweihe where the picture alongside was taken. The rarer birds we saw were the hoopoe, bee-eater and redpoll on the Kaiserstuhl and two of our guests also had clear views of two ring ouzels on our local Belchen mountain.
We now have a new set of guests and have also welcomed Steve & Christine Wyncoll from Waldringfield. Steve is bringing us ministry each evening from the Life of Elisha. There doesn't seem to be any dull moments in Haus Barnabas and we praise the Lord for His daily help and encouragement.

The 'Pitsea Friday Club Family Week' was a further eventful time in Haus Barnabas. David & Christine Barnes, with Deb's help, led a children's session each evening for the 7 children in the house and the week closed with a garden barbeque, see picture, followed by a relaxed time together with an organised quiz and testimonies. There were 21 us in total and not all the adults were believers so we have been praying, and continue to, that the week will prove to be God's means of bringing all ages to truly know Him.
With Tim and Deb and children leaving on Friday 10th June for 2 weeks in the UK, Phyl and Len would value your prayers for all the strength, wisdom and grace we need to cover for them as well as our own daily responsibilities. We are grateful to have Vicky with us to help for most of the month and the picture above shows her with Tom and Esther at the barbeque, which was the day she arrived.

News Update

Another week of blessing in Haus Barnabas has just drawn to a close with the departure of Marilyn Baker and Tracy Williamson and the guests who came to take part in their 'Encountering God' week. The picture gives a glimpse of the evening Marilyn shared her testimony and love for the Lord in word and song and the following poem was composed by Hellen Jeans, prompted by Isaiah 26:3-4 and her experiences during the week.

The Sound of the Peace of our King
I feel this peace in this house.
It fills my soul from the inside out,
Permeating my whole being.
This is the perfect peace of our King

I feel this peace when I walk down this path.
I hear the peace of the burbling stream;
The sing song of the birds in the forest;
The chirping of the crickets in the rustling meadow grass.
This is the perfect peace of our King.

I feel this peace when my mind is stayed on Him.
I can lean right into Him, my Rock of trust.
I can be confident of the hope I have in His plans for me,
As I lie down in this house, in the constant peace of the Lord my King.

News Update - middle May

During this past week we have enjoyed a further 'reformation week'. This year for the first time we have included lectures on the doctrine of the reformers and in particular that of Luther. Working together with Paul Barnes of India Link Ministries we had hoped to have had a small contingent of Indian pastors and teachers whom Paul had felt would have benefited from a retreat week in Haus Barnabas with teaching on this theme. In the event it proved harder than expected to get the necessary visa for them to come to Germany and Switzerland and only one brother from India, Joseph Paul who runs the El Shaddai children's home in Chennai (Madras) was able to be with us.
Two other friends from Britain were with us to help practically and were able to participate fully in a fairly heavy programme. We gave lectures supplemented with dvds on the main European reformers of the 16th century with outings to the Hus museum in Constance, the Zwingli museum in Wildhaus and the cities of Zürich and Basel. Then between Sunday evening and Tuesday morning Dr Bernhard Kaiser of the Institute of Reformation Theology -

www.irt-ggmbh.de

gave four lectures on reformation doctrine; Christ alone, Scripture alone; Grace alone and Faith alone. There was also time for helpful discussion and questions. The photo of Bernhard lecturing was taken by Paul Barnes and that of the group of us by Tim Brooks. We are hoping that this structure and form of programme can be used for future reformation weeks.

News Update - 1st week May

During early May God provided us with a small group of workers for repair and upkeep of the house. With willing and capable hands and God's blessing it's surprising what can be achieved in a week! The rotten part of a roof rafter was successfully replaced together with a number of broken tiles; a new velux window installed; a large number of window shutters repaired and painted; the lower section of the front outside wall re-painted, and wall tiles removed and re-set in one of the bathrooms. All the cost of this has been wonderfully met and our workers have set their heart on coming back as soon as possible to undertake further work! Praise God with us for this provision.

There are also indications that it's God's time for work to really go ahead seriously on the development of new rooms in our large roof space. Envisaged is a family apartment for staff and additional guest bedrooms to effectively double our capacity. A local architect has made a feasibility review with costings and has advised us that we could be eligible for a substantial grant designed to encourage village development in our part of Germany. He is following this up for us. We are praying that if this is truly of God He will provide the financial means to make a start with the drawing up of plans to be passed by the local council. We are encouraged to sense this is God's purpose by three definite enquiries by church groups of larger numbers than we can at present accommodate for 2012! And also by the fact we have experienced builders and workers offering to undertake voluntary work for us.

News Update

We feel to have been honoured greatly with the Lord's presence over this Easter. Our 'Easter Bible Retreat' run for 4 days and we greatly valued the ministry of Tom Lori, seen here leading us in a Passover meal on Easter Saturday. Our steady attendance over the weekend was 25 with others coming in for some sessions. 31 of us sat down to the passover meal. Guests and participants came from UK, Switzerland and Germany and it was good to be able to welcome new faces as well as more long-standing friends. On Wednesday this week we held a 'Theme Evening' with a buffet supper followed by a talk by Tom entitled: 'How I as a Jew came to find the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as my Saviour', which we had advertised in the local papers. A number of our guests stayed on for this evening and we were also pleased to have 8 further people from the locality joining us. Tom spoke in German and Deb translated into English in one corner of the room for our non-German speaking guests. We feel that Tom's testimony and witness spoke to our hearts and we pray and trust to the hearts of one or more of those with us who don't yet know Jesus personally.

News Update

We, Len & Phyl, have had a good time in the UK, with the emphasis this time in North Wales. We benefited greatly from the fellowship and ministry of the Church at Penrhyndeudraeth, near Portmadog where Len also preached one Sunday evening. The picture shows some of the approx 30 friends who supported our 'Reunion and information' afternoon. The weather was extraordinarily good for Wales and we had more warm sunny days than wet. Groups from the church there have come out to Haus Barnabas during the last two years and we are pleased that a further group have booked to come again this August.
Tim & Deb and family have been maintaining the witness of Haus Barnabas back in Utzenfeld in our absence, with the help of Rachel and Dave Gallop who are with us for nearly 3 months. We return to Germany tomorrow and the next main event is our Easter Retreat weekend when we are looking forward to ministry from Tom Lori.

News Update

Our blogspot has not appeared for a while, which is very remiss of us. We have had a gastric 'bug' in the Haus and various ones succumbed to it. Phyl was out of action for a while and is only just feeling well again really. Fortunately she had her oesophagus/gastric endoscopy before she was ill, for which she was very thankful. This went fine and all is well with the afore-named organs, which is an answer to prayer, and probably wise medicine as well!

We are now in Britain and expect to arrive in Wales by the weekend for what is becoming an annual visit. We are not actually staying in Harlech castle, seen above, but in a much humbler but rather nice log cabin a little inland. We have our Haus Barnabas 'Welsh Reunion' at Capel Fron, in Penrhyndeudraeth near Porthmadog, on 19^th March, (see details along side) with Len preaching at the Chapel there on the Sunday evening, 20^th March. Apart from our friends in the locality who we know will be joining us Saturday afternoon, we know of various friends and HB guests coming up to North Wales for that weekend especially to attend and to see us, which is rather nice. We are also hoping to have some holiday too, although we seem to have accumulated a few appointments and in these days of internet and emails there will be daily office work to do also.

Tim & Deb and family together with Rachel & Dave Gallop are keeping things running in Haus Barnabas and we are pleased to have a few guests coming later in March.

News Update

Our Easter Retreat Weekend

We, Len & Phyl, have been back in Haus Barnabas during February and important work this time of year is promoting our programme for the year and corresponding with guests and prospective guests. Alongside this news update is our schedule of special weeks planned for 2011 and we would like to encourage you to consider joining us in the Black Forest sometime this year. You will find a warm welcome anytime but maybe one of our special weeks will interest you. Tom Lori, a Jewish believer in the Lord Jesus and evangelist amongst his own people has a particular love for the Old Testament Scriptures and will be giving us several sessions on the life of Moses, under the title 'The making of a man of God'. Tom will also lead us in a passover meal explaining this and its significance too for New Testament believers. The picture albove is taken from www.churchisraelforum.com/A-do-it-yourself-passover.htm and the article: Celebrating Salvation - The Jewish Passover through Christian eyes. The whole Easter Retreat will be in both English and German and there are more details on our website.

News Update

Phyl & Len have been involved in a number of different meetings and 'reunions' in southern England during the past month and it has been wonderful to catch up with many friends and several church fellowships. The top picture show refreshment time at our Stanmore, London reunion and then the second the group of those who were able to join us at Duncan Road Church, Swanwick for the 'Pitsea Friday Club family week' holiday reunion. It's been so good and encouraging for us to meet up with so many of our past and future guests as well as long-standing friends and family members. The programme of food, games, memories and fellowship at the Swanwick reunion was organised by David & Liz McCann which we appreciated greatly. We expect to arrive back in Utzenfeld Monday evening 7th January.

Bookings for this current year are coming in encouragingly as also are offers of voluntary help. We have every reason to believe the Lord has an eventful and exciting year ahead for us and we value your prayerful support as we go forward to serve Him in it. The winter has been a lean time for us financially as it often is but we praise our Lord and Master that we can begin to see light at the end of a dark tunnel.

News Update

It was good to have some family time over Christmas/New Year and the picture shows Len with sons Geoff and Dan (Geoff hidden) with five of the seven grandchildren.
Attendance at the various services in Haus Barnabas has also been encouraging and we have valued the ministry of David Harman on two occasions. David and his wife Margaret from Ashford, Kent have been with us for about a month and are returning home with us when we, Phyl & Len drive back to the UK on Friday 7th, God willing. We have a good number of engagements and meetings and would remind you again of our London reunion and information meeting at Stanmore Chapel, Marsh Lane, Stanmore, Middx on Saturday 22nd January beinginning at 3.00 pm. Tom Lori of the Messianic Testimony will be bringing a short epilogue from the Scriptures before tea.