God's Blessings

As Aimee and I reflect back on the past month, we cannot help but give thanks to God for His incredible blessings. Our last days in Denver were a whirlwind but we really got to experience the love of all our family and friends as they saw us off. And now that we are getting settled here in Graf, we again are experiencing the love of God through His people. We have been blessed to have multiple friends from our Army-days living here who have let us live in their house, eat their food, borrow anything, and help us out in anyway possible. Plus we have met so many people through the Chapel that have blessed us in similar ways. A few examples:
• One family loaned us their van until we found one to buy.
• When our air-mattress sprung a leak, the next day a friend brought cots for the boys to sleep on.
• We were given lamps after we forgot that Germans take all their lights when they move out of a house!
• Several families have brought toys for the boys to play with.
• And maybe most importantly, we were given a coffee pot!!!

In all this the most amazing blessing has been God’s people. I was reminded of this as I read 2 Corinthians 9 this morning:

“You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God or the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers of you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (verses 11-15)

We cannot tell you how many times over the past few weeks that we have given thanks to God for the generosity of his people. God has used them in so many ways and they have been faithful to serve Him and us through their actions. Just yesterday a chaplain’s wife said that she wanted to put together an old-fashioned “pounding” for us. I had never heard of this but it is basically when a bunch of people buy stuff to fill a new neighbor’s pantry and shelves and help stock the new house. This will be amazing in itself and she asked if we had a deepfreeze to store it all in. We said that we didn’t and she replied, “We will trust God to provide” and in the meantime can just get stuff for your cupboards. That night we had some people come by to bring us a big rug and they asked what was on our list of needs. We told them about needing a washer and dryer and the challenge of getting a larger sized American set. After hearing this they replied, “Well how about a freezer, you will probably need one of those too. We would like to give you a freezer.” Aimee immediately got tears in her eyes and we told them of the conversation we had that morning with the chaplain’s wife. It truly is amazing to see how God uses the generosity of his people. And similar to Paul’s expression to the Corinthians, we praise God for the generosity of so many people in sharing with us. And in our prayers for them our hearts continue to go out to them because of the surpassing grace God has given us.

And God’s grace has not only been extended to us in the generosity of their giving stuff, but also in the giving of their love. We have felt so welcomed, wanted, and loved. People have taken us out to eat, had us in their homes for meals, helped us paint nine rooms in our house, laughed with us, cried with us, and genuinely been our friends. We are so grateful for the many people who have extended the love of God to us.

I look forward to posting more about what God does in the coming days. A couple ways you can be praying for us in the meantime:
1. Praise God with us for all the above blessings. And pray for His blessings as we continue to develop these relationships and build new ones.
2. Pray for the people God would have come to our house. One brigade will be deploying in a couple of months so pray for our ministry to the families that stay behind.
3. Pray for Aimee and I to “start-well.” Seasoned Hospitality House directors have advised us that we are beginning a marathon and not a sprint and that we would be wise to pace ourselves at the start. Pray that we would indeed do this as our personalities like to jump feet-first into things.
4. Our 40 foot container with our furniture arrives tomorrow (Tuesday). Pray that we will have enough people to unload it as it will come during the workday. And pray for us in the coming weeks as we unpack boxes. We feel like we just finished packing them!

Thanks for all your prayers, love, and support. Check back in a few days as we should have internet service in our house by the 19th and shortly thereafter we hope to have some pictures up on our here.

P.S. As I just looked back over this I realized I had barely mentioned our boys! Jacob and Owen are doing great. They are both in German Kindergarten (similar to our pre-school). Jacob is in the oldest class and Owen is in the youngest class. They both love it and are doing well. I asked them as I dropped them off one day last week to each learn a new German word for me. Jacob is picking up a lot of words and when I asked Owen if he learned any he said, “bitte and danke.” “Please and thank you.” They both keep us laughing a lot and have really enjoyed “camping-in” (Jacob’s description) at our new house. They are making new friends and Jacob even started practicing with a local soccer team last week!

Two Weeks and Counting

Two weeks from today we will arrive in Germany! Our household goods are packed and on their way to a ship in Seattle!? They should arrive in Germany around early to mid-September. Here are a few more pictures of our new house!

A Tree House For The Boys
Our New Town: Eschenbach
The Front Of The House On A Sunny Day!

Hosptiality House Eschenbach!

God has provided a house for a new Hospitaltiy House! I wish any of you could have journeyed with me to look for a house so that you could have seen the provision of God. So many details worked together to connect me with this house that I can't help but thank God for the way He brought it all together. The house is going to work great for this ministry and we are excited to move there in August! It is located in the town of Eschenbach and is only 5-10 minutes from the Army Post at Grafenwoehr.
A few special features on the house:
1. A room in the basement the size of a two-car garage we can use for ministry events.
2. A good-sized kitchen for lots of cooking!
3. A porch that will be wonderful to hang-out with people on.
4. A yard big enough for fun activites such as volleyball, croquet, etc.
5. A beautiful garden.
6. And Jacob's favorite: a tree house!!

There are many more big and little features that make this house great for sharing our lives and the gospel with the military at Graf! We thank God for how He has provided. Here are a couple of pictures:

Peaceful Waiting

I was praying for some friends this morning as they had requested I do. They had asked for me to pray that the Lord would give them peace as they wait on Him to provide for the specific things they are in need of. Without going into the specifics here, I realized that these two things are hard for our culture. Having peace and waiting. And somehow they really go hand in hand. It is hard to wait in a culture that is fast paced, always on the go, and looking for solutions to anything that doesn't happen quickly. And when we are forced to wait we have trouble experiencing peace in these situations. Just think about the last time you had to wait in a long line. Were you constantly watching the other lines to see which one was moving the fastest? Or think about the last time you sat in traffic. Did you have a sense of peace about having to wait? If you're anything like me, you have little peace because you are watching the other lanes so that you can strategically move back and forth and weave your way through the traffic jam!

Fortunately, God helps us in both of these things. His word speaks to both waiting and having peace. Isaiah 40:28-31 says the following:

"Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired.
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the aweary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary."

Some versions use the word "hope" instead of "wait." I think if we had the confident expectation in the Lord that biblical hope exudes then we would be able to better wait on Him. And then we would be able to better experience the peace that is talked about in Philippians 4:6-7

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Maybe it all comes down to our trust in God. The more we trust His good character and nature the more we can wait patiently with the confident expectation that He is going to do what is best for us. And as we wait for this we will experience His peace that truly does surpass all comprehension. It is my prayer for you reading this, as it was for my friends this morning, that as you wait on God that you will experience the greatness of His peace.

Remembering

God has taught us that it is good to remember. He even instituted special celebrations and ceremonies to help us remember things. For example, He told the Hebrews to remember the God who delivered them from Egypt, He established the Passover celebration to remember God's deliverance, and we still celebrate The Lord's Supper as a remembrance of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So it is good to remember.

Memorial Day is a day for remembering. I would encourage you to pause and remember the soldiers who gave their lives in service to their country. As you remember them, pray for their families and friends. Pray for the soldiers who were with them, who were commanding them, who were trying to protect and save them. They too will have a difficult day remembering their brothers in arms who died while serving next to them.

While it is good to remember it may also hurt to remember. But often the pain is deep because of how special the person was to us. Remember him or her for that and thank God for the special times you were blessed to have with that person.

Brennan Manning and the Kleagers!

A TWO FOR ONE SPECIAL JUST FOR YOU!
On Sunday May 18th we will be sharing at Greenwood Community Church about our ministry with Cadence International. We will show a brief video during each service and then will host a lunch at 12:30 (following the final service). We would love for anyone to join us to learn more about what we will be doing as we serve U.S. soldiers and their families stationed at Grafenwoehr, Germany.

Service times are: 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00.

As a bonus item, Brennan Manning will be preaching at all three services! Manning is an acclaimed author and speaker. You can learn more about him at his website.

Easter Week--Three Small Betrayals

Good Friday. Ultimately it was good for us, but it wasn't good for our Lord Jesus. Consider just a few of the things Jesus experienced both on that day and the ones surrounding it.

After having an intimate meal with his closest followers he goes to pray. He takes Peter, James, and John with him saying, "My soul is deeply greieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with me." He is grieved to the point of death and essentially asks his friends to be with him in prayer. And yet what happens? They fall asleep--Three Times!

Would you feel somewhat betrayed if you had just told your friends about your impending death and asked them to stay awake through the night to pray for you. What if you were in the hospital and you asked a friend to stay awake and watch the monitors for you. And when you checked on this friend he or she was asleep? How would we feel if we asked a friend to pray with us because we were exceedingly worried and we found him or her sleeping? If Peter, James, and John would have had the time to reflect on this I wonder if they would have thought they had fulfilled the betrayal Jesus had told them about at dinner that night (Mat. 26:20-24).

Take some time to ponder your own life and the ways you commit small betrayals of the one who gave his life for your eternal salvation. Confess these betrayals to the one who loves you in spite of them. The Great News is that while Friday was not so good, three days later Jesus rose from the dead and he now sits at the right hand of God where he intercedes on our behalf!

A little update on our journey...

It is no March which means we are about five months from moving to Germany! It is hard to believe it is coming that quick but we are super excited. Jacob is getting ready to move as he is in a German pre-school one day a week and is starting to pick up the vocabulary more and more. He's counting into the twenties in German and surprises us with new words now and then. Owen follows his big brother's lead and is counting to three in both English and German! He is very proud of himself as are his parents!! Aimee has stopped working part-time at the physical therapy clinic but still fills in when they need her. This has allowed her to shift more attention to getting us ready to move. Meanwhile, Brian continues with his final semester at Denver Seminary and will graduate in May. Then we will shift gears to full-time preparation for moving although at times it feels like we are preparing full-time already!

The Truthfulness of a Leader

A leader should always try to be truthful because this serves as a foundation for who he or she is.

Truthfulness is important for leaders because it serves as a key part of our ministry foundation. Once a follower believes that a leader cannot be trusted then everything the leader says or does comes into question. This questioning will gnaw at the minds of followers to the point that the foundation for which a leader presumes to stand on will no longer exist. A leader who cannot be trusted is like a boat with holes in the bottom of it—you just have to question why anyone would get in it.

Sadly, a lack of truthfulness will have the same effect in the mind of a follower even if it is just perceived (perception is reality for undiscerning people). For this reason it is important that a leader be above reproach in speaking and living truthfully. This includes avoiding negative sarcasm, admitting when wrong, and being consistent in speech and action. Hypocrisy between words and deeds means that we are not living as children of the light (Eph. 5:8-9). We are a mirror that reflects the light of Jesus Christ to others, and our truthfulness will ensure that this mirror remains polished to reflect The Truth.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).
Ephesians 5:8-9

Stuck Gator

The Gator At Mimi and Boopa's Got Stuck On A Hill!

A Great Name

I was thinking this morning about names. For the most part, names don't mean as much today as they did in the past. We choose names largely because of the way they sound or because they have been in our family. In biblical times, names meant much more. The meaning behind the name often reflected the character of the person. That is why the different names of God have such a deep importance to what we know about who God is and what His character is. We can know His character based on the names ascribed to Him.

But then I was also thinking about the name I have been given. My last name is Kleager and where I grew up this name has earned respect. I grew up in a farming town in Western Nebraska and there were quite a few Kleagers around. It was not uncommon for someone to meet me and say, "Are you Lou or Randy's boy" or "Is your Grandpa Clyde or Frank?" These are all Kleagers (and just a few of them in the area) and with our name came a sense of honor and respect. I continue to feel obligated to honor this name for which others have worked hard to establish credibility.

I also have another name that has been given to me. It is the name Christian. I am a Christian because God has adopted me as one of His children. I didn't do anything to earn this adoption but it was the gift of God through His son Jesus Christ. And as an adopted child of the Lord God, I can claim the name Christian. This name, while often slandered or ridiculed today, carries a deep level of respect and honor. I need not be ashamed to be a Christian because it is the most precious name I could have. The Almighty God, the God of all power and might, God of the entire universe has adopted me as His child and given me His name. I am humbled and grateful. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

Our Recon To Germany

Could Our Future Hospitality House Be In The Town In This Picture?

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” Psalm 67:1-2

So many of the Psalms seem to be appropriate in describing our recent trip to Germany, but this one stands out for several reasons. First, God was gracious to us, blessed us, and really made his face shine upon every little detail of our trip. We praise Him for that just as the Psalmist later does in this Psalm. But we also see Him blessing us so that we can bless others. We want to pass along the blessings He has shared so that His ways will be known to include His salvation among the military community in the Grafenwoehr and Vilseck area.

One major theme that stood out to us during our six days in Germany was something that was shared the very first night. Some good friends of ours who live there hosted a dinner in which three chaplains and their wives attended. It became readily apparent how excited they are for us to come partner with them in their ministry and how much they need us there. The need for a Hospitality House in the Graf/Vilseck area was something that various people stated over and over during short time there. In fact, we believe that it would be great for there to be two Hospitality Houses—one at Graf and one at Vilseck! (These two bases are located about 20 minutes from each other and many people commute between the two and our Hospitality Housw will be located in this vicinity.)

We later had office calls with three chaplains and met several others chaplains at different times. We did not meet one single chaplain who showed any hesitancy about a Hospitality House coming and in fact the opposite was quite true. We also were permitted to share our video and give a brief presentation in the Graf Chapel service and Aimee did the same at the Vilseck Protestant Women of the Chapel group (a weekly Bible study). Both of these had very positive responses as well. In fact, without us specifically seeking out financial support, our monthly commitments went from about 25% to 50% of our needed monthly support!

We learned that both bases are growing and that Graf will continue to grow significantly. These people live on the Army post and throughout the local German towns. In order to meet the need for the increased number of people, the Army is also building a town of 850 homes just outside of Graf. This community will include a new elementary school, a new middle school, and a new chapel. We are excited about the possibilities that exist in ministering to this concentration of people.

Vilseck is composed primarily of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment which is a combat arms unit currently deployed to Iraq. Combat arms soldiers are typically deployed more often and for longer periods of time which presents great ministry opportunities to their families that remain behind. We feel a great longing to minister to this unique group of people as well.

Finally, we got to visit the Bamberg Hospitality House for their Friday night dinner and service and really enjoyed our time with Matt and Tina Huischen. We were sad to not have more time with them but were blessed by the fellowship, worship, teaching, and also seeing how they do their ministry.

I am sure that I have forgotten to mention something, but as you can see, God did so many amazing things that it is hard to remember all of them! He is so good to us.