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Our team logo has three worlds with Europe and the Middle East visible. The three colors represent the three worlds of Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the Middle East. They also represent how we divide our three areas of ministry. Most importantly, they represent the three worlds of Christianity: Traditional, Post-Christendom, and Non-Western. Visit our website www.three-worlds.com to learn more about "the Three Worlds of Christianity."
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Patrick & Jamie Nachtigall
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 Patrick and Jamie Nachtigall April-August 2020 volume 20 issue 2
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ON THE ROAD AGAIN! Post-Corona
We are so happy that we were able to begin visiting churches again this summer after being in lockdown for months! Like most of the world, we spent about 18 weeks completely house-bound except for Jamie's grocery runs. We used this time to catch up on a variety of projects, rework our social media, and spend time together as a family. Patrick started a podcast and completed a new book, his memoirs! (We will talk about that in our next newsletter). During the lockdown, our team has stayed in regular contact via Facebook Messenger and Zoom, with each other as well as friends and leaders in the region. For the time being, our visits to other countries will now rely more on cars and trains instead of planes as well as each country's particular restrictions.
Due to COVID-19 and the lockdown across Europe and the Middle East, we sadly cancelled our 3WLN conference for 2020, our spring Europe X meeting, a trip to visit Pink Door, a trip to the Birkenhead CHOG in England, as well as visits to Egypt and Lebanon. Our summer plans to return to the USA for Global Strategy team meetings and college visits with Marco were also cancelled. The scheduled March site visit in Spain with Nate and Stacy Tatman, 3W Associate Regional Coordinators, was the first item on our schedule to hit a coronavirus roadblock. Like so many, for us it has been a season of thwarted plans, frantic rescheduling and resignation to circumstances completely out of our control.
In July we determined that we would attempt to travel by driving south through Italy. We first stopped in Arco to visit Marcos and Katherine Lovaglio (see the next section for more). From there we continued south to visit our wonderful friends in Rome at the Ostia Church of God. Pastor Daniele Santonocito and the congregation had been open for about five weeks after having relied on online services during the lockdown in Italy. Many new people started tuning in to the online services, which is a blessing. Even now their services can only last one hour, they must have social distancing measures in place, attendees must wear masks, the facilities must be disinfected before and after each use and no air conditioning is permitted. Daniele had Patrick preach in the Sunday service, and though brief, it was great to visit with friends in the church. HERE is a video update from Pastor Daniele.
It was also great to see Riccardo Regis! He is a part of the 3W Leadership Network (3WLN) and grew up in the Ostia church. Riccardo pursued his Bachelor's degree in ministry at Anderson University. Following his time at AU, he did an internship with our partners at County Line Church of God in Auburn, Indiana, under the direction of Nate Tatman (3W-Associate Regional Coordinator). He is now being charged with reinventing and reinvigorating the youth program. He has a strong call to pastoral ministry and we are excited to see what God is doing in his life and how we can continue to walk alongside him.
Pastor Daniele and Riccardo
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ARCO CHOG FINALLY FINDS FACILITY
It's been a long, tough road, but we were so excited to finally see the Arco Church of God move out of its very small, cramped facility into a new, larger, and more centrally locatd space. Dan and Christy Kihm (3W-Hungary) joined us, so we were all there when pastors Marcos and Katherine Lovaglio opened the facility with their new keys for the first time. The new facility surpassed our expectations.
The Arco CHOG has attracted youth and young families and reminds us so much of our beloved Hong Kong Church of God when we first began there. With a committed young core, two gifted young pastors, and a new facility, the potential for continued growth is great. The former facility was so small that the Sunday school for kids was sometimes held in a basement parking space. Now there will be genuine space for kids as well as roof-top space that can be used for all sorts of gatherings throughout the year. We look forward to seeing what God has in store for this church.
Marcos and Katherine share about their new facility HERE.
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REUNITED: KIHMS VISIT GERMANY
One of the most challenging aspects of this pandemic has been isolation from friends and loved ones. Our 3W team is very close (family) and we are accustomed to seeing each other frequently as we partner in ministry in Europe and the Middle East. Consequently, we were very happy to host the Kihm family (3W-Hungary) in July.
During spring and early summer, Dan, Christy, and Sofie were in lockdown in Hungary. Starting in June, churches slowly began to reopen and the Kihms were once again able to interact with the church. They even took all necessary precautions and helped with the annual youth camp in early July, which was held successfully without any incidents. After that, they decided to take advantage of the borders opening and traveled to see us in southern Germany.
Our time together in Badenweiler was filled with laughs, great conversation and lots of games. We belatedly celebrated Sofie's 8th birthday. She is an amazing missionary kid who has helped out on the team so much! We also took a trip to Montreux, Switzerland, to celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary! We were grateful to have some fellowship time with the Kihms and were thankful that, on their way home, they could join us on our visit to the Arco Church of God. We long for the day when we can reunite with all of our 3W team members.
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ENCOURAGING UPDATE FROM EGYPT
It was such a blessing, recently, to connect with Dr. Latif Ramsis, chairman of the General Assembly of the Church of God in Egypt. Like every other country in the world, Egypt is wrestling with COVID-19 and its impact on everyday life and ministry. Our thoughts and prayers are with those brothers and sisters in the Church of God in Egypt who have been impacted by the virus - in suffering from infection or grieving the loss of loved ones. Thankfully, to date, the leadership of the various churches up and down the Nile River are healthy. And in this time, the church has found new ways to reach out and serve the community. The Lord provided so that the church could support families in financial need and care for pastoral families as well. Most services were held online for several months, with in-person services beginning again this month with certain restrictions to ensure a healthy environment.
The effort to remodel and rebuild the numerous church properties throughout the country continues; many of the buildings are quite old and have been on the brink of collapse. We were most excited to hear about the growth of young leaders being mentored and guided as they step into full-time ministry. Dr. Latif is a wise and respected leader, a true giant of the faith. Click HERE if you are interested in financially assisting the Church of God in Egypt in its efforts to renovate facilities and train new leaders.
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MARCO'S WORLD
For those of you that have been subscribing to our newsletter for 20 years, the next few words will shock you: Marco is applying to colleges!
We want to both jump for joy and cry! It's hard to believe that our little baby born on the mission field in Hong Kong is now almost an adult ready to strike out on his own.
Last Summer, we were able to visit some colleges in California, Washington State, and British Columbia while making church visits. Unfortunately, our trip to visit East Coast colleges this summer was cancelled due to Covid-19. Marco is also looking at schools in Europe. At the moment, he is interested in studying industrial and organizational psychology and then continuing on to get an advanced degree in the subject. Growing up with the Three Worlds team and observing our work as well as so many people living and serving cross-culturally has made him interested in the psychology of companies, organizations, and nonprofits.
Marco faces some unique challenges in applying to a US college. Given that he has lived the majority of his life in Asia and Europe, he lacks familiarity with American culture. He also lacks roots and a "home" in the US where he can go on holidays. Furthermore, financial aid is quite complicated. With Covid-19, many things have been upended and disrupted. You can pray for wisdom as Marco applies to schools, for generosity from financial aid departments, and for Marco to find the best school equipped to assist with the unique needs of MKs/TCKs and launch him into adulthood. Even though he'll likely be thousands of miles away from his parents and 3W family, Marco is excited about this new adventure.
We recently asked Marco to share on a 3W Facebook video what some of the benefits and downsides are of growing up as a missionary kid. We know that he has made a lot of sacrifices and endured a lot that will never be seen and known by others outside of our family. But we can't imagine the past 17 years of ministry and cross-cultural adventures without him. He has given us so much joy and has been such an important part of our ministry as a family. To see Marco's video, click HERE.
Please also pray for Marco's senior year and his school, Black Forest Academy, as they try to open for the school year with missionary kids from all over the world. Pray that classes can be safely held on campus and that the school year will be as close to normal as possible.
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