Whats Been Going On this Spring

Kylene's Korner

Greetings from Koinonia Fellowship and Aalborg International Friends,

In this korner it is my desire to communicate with you what God is doing through the International ministries in our church. We are thankful for your support and prayers and want you to know how you can be praying for us. We would also like to say a thousand thanks to Birte & Ole, Alice&Verner,Asta&Kjeld, og Helle &Carsten for the lovely meals they have served us once a month. It is such a blessing to the students to receive a home cooked meal. And a wonderful time of fellowship for all of us. May the Lord richly bless you for your servants heart.

The past few months we have had some great opportunities to reach out and serve both International students and families in our community. In March we also welcomed Christiane Nielsen one of the ladies in our fellowship home from Africa. She has been serving the Masai people and counseling young women who have been abused. The Lord used her to bring the healing message of the Gospel to many.

We currently have two small groups that meet in our home on Wednesday evenings and Lee's home on Friday evenings. Lee has the privilege of meeting with a group of Chinese students who are not Christians but are very interested in knowing more about it. They are doing a type of Alpha course learning the basics of Christianity. They ask alot of good questions. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would show them their need for a Savior.

In our home we finished a study called Forgotten God by Francis Chan. This was a study on the power of the Holy Spirit. We were challenged to think about: Would our lives look different if we woke up without the Holy Spirit or would they be the same? Personally I was challenged by this question. God brought a situation into our lives where I experienced the supernatural peace of God. If I had trusted in myself I would have been worrying and trying to figure out a solution in my own strength. But all praise be to God, He by His grace gave me His peace instead. The power of the Holy Spirit is amazing. It is what makes us different. When friends asked how can I could have peace I was able to tell them that is was because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are currently doing a study called The Truth Project. Another challenging study that makes us ask ourselves hard questions. For example: What lies of the world's philosophy have I believed? What is Truth? Where does evil come from? Who is Man? Who is God? Its not always easy thinking about these questions but these are the questions that some people around us are asking. So how will we answer them? Do we have a biblical worldview or a worldview that has been influenced by our society and culture? Pray that we would not be afraid of asking ourselves the hard questions.

I have also had the blessing of meeting together with some international moms. A few months ago I felt that God wanted me to reach out to other international moms. So I made up some cards that are being given out to new international moms at the Patient Hotel and by some Sunhedsplejerske. We had our first event Moms and Muffins in April and will meet again in May and through the summer. Currently we have moms from New Zealand, China, Ghana, and USA. Danish moms are also always welcome!

Aalborg International Friends also hosted many sightseeing trips of the beautiful Danish nature this spring. And Lee took a group on his annual Spring European tour during Easter. These trips are always a great time for them to get to know each other and have some good conversations. We also had our Store Bededag/Kristians Birthday event where they we able to taste varm hvede and cut the head off the cake man. Coming up on June 5^th we will celebrate Grundlovsdag together from kl.18-22 eating together and learning more about the Danish culture. Lee, Suzan and Marie also had the chance to travel to Israel for Ihab and Ingeborgs wedding. They had some lovely adventures seeing the Holy Lands.

On Sunday evenings we have been studying Proverbs. We have been challenged and encouraged by what it means to fear the Lord and seek God's wisdom. Please continue to pray that we would be able to find a consistent place to meet with handicap and child friendly facilities. You can also pray along with us for visas, marriages, students projects and that we would faithfully serve every person that we meet.

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support! To check out more go to: http://koinoniachurch.dk and http://aalborginternationalfriends.dk

Winter Family Photos

This free digital scrapbooking design generated with Smilebox

Ministry Update Fall/Winter

Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from snow covered Aalborg, Denmark. This morning we woke up once again to frosted covered trees. It really is quite beautiful. On our walks back and forth from church with the baby carriage we have a chance to appreciate the beauty of winter. Kristian says its interesting how snow is so white, pure and beautiful until plowed, shoveled, tainted by human hands. That's when it becomes dirty and not as lovely. That's how it can often be with us and God when we think we have to do more to please God. We are in a sense tampering with the perfect work that He has already accomplished to make our hearts white as snow. Sometimes I too can get caught up in if I do more I will somehow be more pleasing to God when I think maybe God just wants me to settle in the truth of what already has been done to restore my sinful heart. Just maybe God is calling us to “do” less and sit as His feet more. So that the things we do “do” come out of an overflow of thanksgiving because of how Jesus has washed our hearts white as snow.
Isaiah 1:18 “ Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,“ Though your sins are like scarlet,They shall be as white as snow;Though they are red like crimson,They shall be as wool.”
Just some challenging thoughts for myself as well this morning as I sit and write to you.

We are well into 2010 as a family and as our fellowship of Koinonia. In case some of you do not remember Koinonia is the International Fellowship of Bethel Baptist Church. This is the ministry we have been involved with full time since May. We work with International students from Aalborg University as well as internationals working here. You are more than welcome to visit our churches website at http://www.koinoniachurch.dk here you can read about what is going on in the ministry and read the profiles of our leadership team whom we serve with. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful International family. I use the word family because that is truly what we are. Kristian and I truly just love the colorful array of people we get to interact with through Koinonia and Aalborg International Friends. Aalborg International Friends is a ministry of Koinonia Fellowship. Through Aalborg International Friends we arrange fun, alcohol free activities for University students. Due to the heavy drinking culture here in Denmark it is often refreshing for students to go to fun activities without alcohol being involved. This is a way for the students involved in our church to invite their friends to the church just to have fun. And opens doors for them to come and take part in Koinonia. So what have we been up to since we last saw most of you in September?

This past fall/winter-
Thanksgiving
Once again Aalborg International Friends held our annual Thanksgiving dinner it is always a joy to share this American holiday with Internationals many of them experiencing it for the first time. We had about 30 signed up and we were pleasantly surprised to have about 70 show up. So thankfully the Lord still turns 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish into enough to feed 5000. This time it was just turkey and pumpkin pie. It is a busy day but I did most of the pie and dessert making ahead of time. With Lily I cannot just do it all in one day. We had great help from the students in our fellowship to serve the meal.
During the fall an elderly lady from Bethel invited some of the international students over for coffee and tea to her house a few time. Although she does not speak so much english she tries to teach the students danish when they are in her home. This has been a great blessing to see her take an interest in the students.
This fall the Lord also inspired me to start Moms Helping Moms a network for International Moms in our city. While translating for our friends from Ghana on a tour of the hospital I met another American/French couple and ended up translating for them too. It was after this that I felt the Lord inspiring me to begin a group for international moms. Its so amazing how the Lord works because since then God has brought two more expecting moms to our church. I made some cards with my contact information on them and have distributed them to the midwives at the patient hotel where new moms stay after giving birth. And will also be taking them to the midwife clinic in town. You can also check out the blog that I made for Moms Helping Moms at http://www.padutchgirl.blogspot.com. This has been a great way for me to encourage other ladies in the same life situation as I am in. Since September we have had 4 new babies born. Gabrielle from Ghana, James American/French, Metta Chinese/Thai, and Nora Dutch/Danish. And we have a new couple from Burma that are expecting in March. Each of these families have a story but space is running out. Mettas parents just started coming to our fellowship and they are Hindu. They enjoy coming to our fellowship so please pray that we can show Jesus to them. The couple from Burma is also in need of prayers for the mother so that she can get a visa to stay in Denmark. They are staying in a small room in student housing right now and are living on very little income. Some have already been so kind to give them various things and Bethel took an offering for them on Sunday. But pray we as a church will be faithful in helping them in the long term. The husband speaks english/danish but the wife does not speak either so communication is a bit of a problem. But pray that she will feel our love and concern for them. In the next few weeks I would like to begin a play group at the church for these International Moms. Although currently Lily is the most active one crawling and standing all over the place I would like it to be a place where the Moms can also find encouragement and refreshment from sharing life with each other. I am also helping Lilian our mom from Ghana whose husband Isaac is in Canada for 3 months studying on a weekly basis. So Lily and I are staying quite busy but she loves it being out and about just like her momma. But please check out the blog for pictures of these precious babes.
Christmas and New Year's can always be a bit tough for Internationals some of them being so far away from home. We have some who are away from not only their extended family but immediate family wife, husband, and children. Thankfully some families from Bethel were so kind to take some of them home with them on Christmas Eve. I know the ones that were here were so blessed by these families. Between Christmas Eve and New Years Lee our international pastor always fills up his VW bus and takes a road trip. This year it was only guys but they had a great time and good conversations on the road.
Also over the holidays I got a call from one of the girls Suzan from The Netherlands. Her and her boyfriend got engaged this past summer and are planning their wedding. She asked if I would be her maid of honor. I was surprised and so honored she would ask. She said it was because we have had so many discussions about sex, marriage and living together. Its so gracious of God to sometimes let us see the fruit of our labor and that some people actually are listening. So in November we will take a road trip to the Netherlands with Lee. He will be officiating in a Catholic Church. Funny I know but what a neat opportunity.
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new students in February. On February 6 we will be hosting the Scoop of Denmark where we welcome all the new students. We invite them for a free danish meal and play some games introducing them to the language and getting them acquainted with Aalborg International Friends. This spring we will also have 4 other events. And evening of talents, bus trip all around northern Denmark, History behind the Big Praying day in Denmark(which currently is just a day off work), and History of Constitution day.
As for Koinonia Kristian will be starting a new Bible study series on book by Francis Chan called Forgotten God. Kristian leads the Wednesday night studies, through this book we will be studying about the Holy Spirit. Kristian also has had many opportunities to preach and lead the services at our church. He loves being able to be used in this way and I am so thankful for the man of God that He is. We are just finishing a time of fasting and praying as well for our church and our city. It has been a blessing to hear how God is working every Wednesday at the study. As we say hello to many new faces we are also saying goodbye to some people who have been apart of our fellowship. We will be sad to see them go again but look forward to see how God will use them in their home countries.
We are so thankful for your prayers and financial support. It is wonderful to serve with the confidence that we have family interceding on our behalf.
Our Prayer Needs:
-Pray for us as we adjust to living on one income after February. This is when my maternity leave is finished as well as my contract with the church. We are confident that God will provide for our every need.
-Pray for me ministering to International Moms and their children in our city.
-Pray for us as a family that we would continue to keep God first in our marriage and as we raise Lily.
You can also stay in contact with us at our new blog where we will be posting pictures and stories of what is going on in our ministry. http://thebaksindk.blogspot.com

1 Corinthians 1:4 “We thank our God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,”

May you continue to see the evidences of grace in one another.

Sending you much because of our Saviour,
Kristian, Kylene and Lily Bak

pictures to go along with our post

Its another snowy day in Denmark

Today I am working on getting our family blog up and running as the snow falls ever so slowly outside our window. Lily just woke up from her nap I can hear her talking well baby talk that is. Will have to work more on this later.