Hi praying friends,

While we were in Florida visiting Elissa's parents one of the things we kept hearing was, "This is the coldest stretch of weather we have had..." My regular response? "It's warmer than it is right now in Minnesota." On the last couple of days, the weather gave us a good Florida send-off. We had sunny high 60's as we ventured off on boat tour to see dolphins and pick up shells on Friday. On Saturday it was mostly cloudy, but in the 70's. On Sunday, it rained, but was still close to 70... and then we got in the airplane and flew to Minneapolis where it was -10. An 80-degree swing in one day!! I went from wondering if I should bring a sweater to wondering if I really needed to go outside. :)

Thanks for praying for our time in Florida, and for the writing I was doing while there. I did make some good progress on our messages for Crown's Global Impact Fest at the end of February. Just over a month to go, so please keep praying!

I also have a really big answer to prayer! One of our ministry partners has agreed to give over $90,000.00 over the next two years to help us with our Creative Arts and Media Production project. This allows us to think of some of our upcoming projects in new ways - especially as we see if we can move from drop shipping (Print on Demand) to printing larger quantities and using a distributor. The larger quantities allow us to bring the print costs down, meaning we can give more money to the authors and have a higher profit margin for Envision Berlin as we continue to grow and seek to be self-sustaining. Thank you for praying that God would provide finances for us. We will continue to need some financial partners for Envision Berlin's general budget in the coming couple of years as we move increasingly toward being self-sufficient. I am confident that as you pray, God will provide.

Some updates:

1. We met with the Envision national office leadership today to talk about our site strategy for the coming year. We have some interesting opportunities to help serve the larger Alliance family that we talking about as Envision Berlin sets its Road Map for the coming year. Pray for us as we have those planning sessions in the coming weeks.
2. Johannah has started at her new job and it is going well so far.
3. Caleb will be taking his final exams in the coming week. Please pray for him as he studies and prepares. The tests are intense!
4. Germany will be facing new national elections on February 23. A lot of our immigrant friends and neighbors are concerned about this election - and regardless of the results, are feeling less secure around some of their neighbors than they did a few years ago. Can you please pray for our Alliance workers who interact regularly with our immigrant friends and neighbors, and that these friends and neighbors are open to having gospel conversations?

This Sunday we are at Eagen Hills Alliance Church in Eagen. Come see us if you are in the area!

Blessings,

mike