Hi Praying Friends,

Today I am working from home, taking one of the focus days we have monthly for our staff, interns, and residents to dig into a study project our residents and I have been working on over the last 6 months.

We are developing a Rule of Life for our Envision Berlin community. What is a Rule of Life? I like this definition: A rule of life is a commitment to live your life in a particular way. It is meant to be crafted with prayer and discernment, in partnership with God, as you consider the way God made you and the values He has inscribed upon your heart.

As we continue to develop Envision Berlin, the spiritual community of staff, interns, residents, short-term team participants, and people from our neighborhood continues to grow. Since we view ourselves, in part, as a modern monastic community - it is important that we begin to put into writing the practices we are committed to as a community. The "particular way" we as Envision Berlin live so that we can achieve the mission God has given us.

Do you have a Rule of Life? Maybe one for you personally - or perhaps your church/organization has one? Perhaps this question is helpful: How are you (or your community of believers) living your life?

It is exciting to watch our community grow - and our written Rule of Life will help people understand us better. If you have a Rule of Life, would you mind sharing it with me? I would love to learn from it!

Some prayer requests:

1. Joshua is in his last week of school for this block. Pray for him as he returns home this weekend.
2. Please keep praying for us to get visa appointments and find a way to work better within the existing process. Today the whole website is down - which is extra frustrating.
3. We are currently working through some partnership details with another ministry in Berlin. Pray for this process! Part of this would also involve some office-sharing, which would also help us financially.
4. Speaking of finances: We are approaching the end of our fiscal year. Please pray for giving to bring Envision Berlin into the black. It currently looks like we are running about $5,000.00 behind - but we know that God is faithful! If you would like to give or know someone who would, here is a link. The Great Commission Fund for the Christian and Missionary Alliance is also a place you can direct funding if you want to support the work of the C&MA around the world.

Thanks again for praying!

mike