Dear Friends of Eastern Europe Renewal:

The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

HAPPY EASTER! Please join Mary and me in thanksgiving for the evidence the Resurrection gives of the power of the Crucifixion to pay for all of our sins and defeat death and destruction. 

We are fine here in Basel where Spring is bursting out all over. My mother is doing well in her retirement home in California. A friend of mine stopped by to bring her Easter chocolate. This is a great comfort to me as I am so far away. 

Spring is the busy travel season. The trips to Slovakia and England are over. Norway and Australia are next. My hearing aid is adjusting to me and me to it. It takes time, but I no longer have a "good" ear and a "bad" ear. 

While there is so much trouble and bad news in the world, evil and injustice and cruelty, let me share with you some of the joys of my work. After a lecture in Trnava, Slovakia, an American student came up and said he had been in great doubts about his study of philosophy but now his way forward was clear again. In the past I have done too much travel alone. Now God is providing me more and more with travelling and team teaching companions. In England at the Word Alive conference they allowed me to call a four part seminar "Jesus and the Cosmic Reality Check". An average of 100 people came each day for the 75 minute sessions. One woman said to my colleague, Dr. James Paul, "I came in pretty depressed and uncertain about everything and now I am full of joy." In my small "Impact" group at Word Alive (see photo below), one man said on the first day "I have decided to believe in Christianity but not to think about it." On the last day he asked for information about going to L'Abri to clear up his thinking. Another man, from Singapore, who studies Law had been trying to decide whether to become a pastor or a politician. The last day of the conference he decided to become a politician. After a lecture in the Synagogue of Nitra, Slovakia (see photo) a young Zen Buddhist engaged me in conversation. Because of my own Buddhist background, I could speak to him about the Christian Truth in the "Zen" style, which he could receive. This was a very moving reminder of the time I was a Zen Buddhist and God provided Christians who took me seriously and made the effort to speak in ways that made sense rather than in slogans.

As a cautionary note about our assumptions in the Christian sub culture a young man who had grown up in a Church and a family of Christian leaders asked me "I hear this all the time, but what is 'the Blood of the Lamb'"? He could recite many Sunday School slogans and phrases but had very little understanding of what any of it meant. Our theme verse in the small group in England was "In understanding be men."

The Church in Lausanne and I have decided to try an interim part time pastorate for 6 months and see how it goes. The idea is to go 2 weekends/mo., but my travelling schedule doesn't allow this to fully begin until July. I'm really happy and thankful about this possibility and pray God will make me a blessing to these people. 

Thank you for praying for us and encouraging us and participating in our finances. The Lord is always providing what is needed through many channels including you. The local government has accidentally overpaid Mary's retirement benefits and wants us to give back several thousand francs. God's long-term faithfulness makes this a cause for curiosity rather than alarm. It can be confusing to live as foreigners in another country or in this fallen world, but God is never confused. We can always look to Him for stability, sense and Peace. May the Lord bless you, enlarging your life and giving you His Joy and Peace.

Much love in Jesus,

Ellis

Daily "Impact Group" at Word Alive in England. 

Teaching in the Synagogue of Nitra. 

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Copyright © 2007 Ellis Potter.