Family, Friends & Ministry Partners, Hello from cold and rainy Bonn, Germany. We hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. We just wanted to give you a quick rundown on the latest events in our lives. One quick note: we recently changed email servers and lost some emails in the process. If you've emailed us in the last week and haven't heard back from us, please resend the emails to us. Thanks. On the home front... The family is doing well. We are gearing up for Christmas. We are planning on a quiet Christmas break at home, although we may take an overnight trip somewhere just for fun. The kids love hotels and youth hostels. We had some German couples over to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. They told us they really enjoyed it. The fact that the kids were on their best behavior made for a great evening. Robin asked the kids what they were thankful for. We are amazed at their insight. Ryan was thankful that we had an earth to live on. Ashton was thankful for a long list of things including the fact that she got to dogsit for a friend for a week. Emma was thankful for her parents...we think that she is buttering us up in hopes of a big Christmas present! We went today to the Christmas Market in Siegburg. It is special because they do everything just as it would have been done in the Middle Ages. We ate some bratwurst and fresh, oven-baked bread, drank hot apple cider, watched a man juggle fire, a medieval music concert and a puppet show for the kids. It was a great experience. It's nice that we can speak enough German now to communicate pretty well. The kids are doing well in school. Ryan's teacher just told us that he is reading on a 5th grade reading level. (not bad for a 3rd grader!) He is also the best in his class at spelling. The girls love the Kindergarten (preschool) and have a lot of friends there. Ashton is learning to read at home and is doing well. We are just getting started with Emma's reading skills. Robin and Jon are also doing well... lots of opportunities are coming to us (see below). In ministry news... It has been a very busy month for us. Robin & Jon led a worship night for the American Protestant Church in Bonn. The pastor seemed to enjoy it so much that he already asked us if we would do another one for them. I (Jon) was asked to be one of the leaders for a weekend retreat with 700 students sponsored by CJD, a Christian school organization that reaches out to the marginalized young people in Germany. Most of the students in their 44 German schools are unbelievers. I got the opportunity to pray with a young man to give his heart to Christ. I prayed for quite a few other young people as well. I also got to know the school principal from Konigswinter (just across the river from us). More about that later... Last night, I (Jon) ministered to a youth group in Dusseldorf. I had the opportunity to pray for quite a few students, both to recommit their hearts to Christ and for healing. We started a Bible study in Cologne for young adults tonight. There were about 15 students, only half of which are believers. This is a great opportunity for us. We are excited about the future of this group. *** Awesome news *** Robin will start teaching English at the CJD Konigwinter high school on Tuesday. The principal told me that their English teacher was going to be gone for the rest of the year and they had no substitutes. He asked if Robin or I would be willing to teach for a month or so. It will just be a temporary position, but it gets our foot in the door for further opportunities. He was so impressed with Robin that he all but offered her a permanent job in a year and a half when this teacher retires. We are so excited about this! We have had this on our hearts for some time and have been praying about getting into the schools. God is so creative in bringing His will to pass! Please be praying with us as we will need another vehicle (see prayer requests below) so Robin, Jon and the kids can all get to their schools on time. She will also have to get official training (important in Germany) and a work permit. Finally, just a quick reminder: RHEMA Bible Church is no longer handling our finances. Any funds sent to them after Dec. 31, 2004 for us will not be forwarded to us. All support checks should now be made out to Perrin Ministries and sent to our USA office address (below). You can also make a secure online donation through PayPal and get a tax receipt. Go to http://www.perrinministries.de/onlinedonation.htm for more information. We appreciate your support and encouragement as we reach European teens and train leaders. Your missionaries to Europe, Jon, Robin, Ryan, Ashton & Emma Perrin Perrin Ministries http://www.perrinministries.org PS. Prayer Requests for December: * Continued favor and open doors, especially in the school system. * Direction, protection and provision. * Our insurance needs to be paid again. The cost for our family is: $1800/yr. ** Another vehicle so we can be in more than one place at once. The second van that was given to me required too many repairs to pass inspection, so we sold it for what we could get out of it (not much). * A good digital camcorder so we can create quality video resources for outreach and training. * The right interns and pastors for the Timothy Project (http://www.perrinministries.org/timothyproject.htm) so we can reach a lost generation for Christ. ** All finances received over and above the required project amounts will go into the general operating fund. -------------------------------------------------------- US Office Address (Financial support) Perrin Ministries P.O. Box 940846 Plano, TX 75094-0846 * You can also donate online at our website: http://www.perrinministries.de/onlinedonation.htm Germany Home Address: Jon & Robin Perrin Kirchgasse 30 53501 Grafschaft Germany jon@...