Hello,

Are you getting excited? We hope everyone is anticipating this year´s conference in Beatenberg and all that God will do in and through His people. We just have a couple of items for this letter.

FUTURE CONFERENCE SITES

Looking ahead to 2010, we need your suggestions for a place to hold the conference. To be considered as an appropriate venue, the site needs to meet the basic criteria listed below.

• a space for 200+ people
• access to an airport within 2 hours drive time and public transportation
• majority of the rooms should be en suite
• the price should be around 70 euros/day for adults and 20 euros/day for children
• available in August, possibly around Easter

REMINDERS

If you have not sent in your prayer requests please do so immediately. The August 1 deadline will soon be here. If your requests are not submitted they will not be included in our prayer times.

If you are arriving by train we may be able to coordinate rides from Interlaken to the school. This depends on arrival times and car availability.

Please take advantage of the great lineup of speakers, seminars and activities by making every effort to attend all the meetings. Other than our afternoon off, you are expected to be at all the events planned.

High chairs will be placed in the dining room for families with young children. Please sit at another table if your family does not need the use of a high chair.

If you have any questions please contact me at .

See you soon,

Sue Ashcraft
Conference Coordinator

Hello again,

Thanks to those who have promptly responded with your prayer requests. Keep them coming so I have plenty of time to organize them for our prayer times. Take a minute to read through this week´s information about the conference.

COFFEE BREAKS

Gayle Lippincott is coordinating our coffee breaks this year. Please bring a snack (cookies, crackers, nuts, cheese, fruit, etc.) for the breaks. Bring enough for ten people. These items will be pooled after you arrive. Generally things are more expensive in Switzerland so if you have room you might want to bring them with you. The snacks will also be for the children and teen groups and their leaders.

Your group is responsible to set up and clean up after coffee break. The groups are as follows: Wed. morning - MMC 1; Wed. afternoon - MMC 2; Thursday morning - Genoa and England; Friday morning - Italy and Paris; Friday afternoon - Spain; Saturday morning - Germany, Austria, Belgium; Sunday afternoon - France and Poland. There will be one key contact person for each break time. For any questions contact Gayle at .

AVANT PREMIER CAFE (also known as the Green Room)

Willy and Sue Tops will once again set up this special place for you to visit and snack each evening. They need five people (or couples) to take some of the responsiblity. Please let them know if you can volunteer one evening. This includes a bit of set-up and of course clean-up. Contact them at .

TEENS

Please have your teen bring walking/hiking type shoes with a water bottle and light coat, in case it rains, as the teen group will likely be doing some hiking. If they have a small backpack that would be great as well but not a must.

REMINDERS

The Bible School has limited en suite rooms (with private bathroom). In both buildings there are bathrooms on every floor and showers on most floors. You may want to bring a bathrobe for those trips out of your room.

There are some Swiss outlet plug adapters available from the conference center but their supply is limited. If you have some already, please bring your own. The Swiss plugs are 6 sided with 3 round prongs. Some 2 pronged Continental Euroepean plugs will work in the sockets but they will not be grounded (earthed) and they might fit loosely. Replacement plugs are available in Interlachen.

The center has asked that anyone staying extra nights before or after the conference pay their bill upon their arrival, not at the end as I previously wrote. Thank you.

Be looking for the last information letter next week!

Sue Ashcraft
Conference Coordinator

Hello,

In just a few weeks we will be enjoying our conference at Beatenburg! Please read through all parts of this letter as we need some information from you.

SMALL GROUP PRAYER

Each morning we will pray together in small groups. During this time we´ll pray for specific ministries as well as for those people within our groups. To facilitate this, I need each missionary (wives too) to please send me the following five prayer requests this week at . The deadline for submitting these is August 1.

• a personal request (non-ministry)
• an aspect of your ministry that you´d like to develop/expand
• a personal ministry request, either in or out of your home
• an area of your personal life you need to work on
• something you are facing in the coming year

EVENING VIDEO PRESENTATIONS (optional)

Each evening, Wednesday through Saturday, is the time to share your ministry via video. Jamie Fehr is coordinating this time so make sure you contact him early in the week (at the conference) to make sure everyone has a chance to show what they have prepared. If you have any questions now his email is .

DISCUSSION GROUPS (optional)

Thursday afternoon is for topics of special interest to be discussed in an unstructured setting. Time is limited but this will facilitate ongoing discussion on an individual level.

• Internet security by Dan Lippincott: Depending on the interest of those attending, this session will be divided into smaller groups to deal with specific issues. Dan requests your questions regarding this topic to help him give the answers you need. Contact him at .
• Gadgets by Jamie Fehr: Come prepared to share what gadget has facilitated your ministry and why it might be helpful for someone else.
• Legal issues and understanding remittance printouts by Bob Ehmann: Changing EU immigration policies, linking the IRS and Social Security in the US, and residency while on assignment are issues to consider. While each country has specific rules, we will look at general issues to be aware of. We will look at a remittance printout and walk through how to interpret it.

If you have any questions please contact me at . Have a great week!

Sue Ashcraft
Conference Coordinator

Hello again!

Please take a moment to read the second Avant Europe conference 2008 letter. Keep your questions coming and I will do what I can to answer them or refer you to someone who can. In this letter you will find more details about our week together in Beatenburg in August.

WORKSHOPS

The workshops at our last conference were well received. This year there are three workshops for you to choose from and will only be offered at one session. You don´t need to sign up early this year, just go to your chosen workshop that day. These are interactive so your participation is encouraged. The workshops are as follows:

• Communication Strategy by Kirk Blackwell and Tim Becker (SCCP Poland)
• MMC, Avant Europe Media Resources by Dan Lippincott (Director of the Málaga Media Center)
• Home Schooling Options by Carolyn Eumurian (the new Avant MK Educational Consultant)

CHILDREN AND TEEN PROGRAM

As mentioned in the previous letter, the teens (ages 12 and up) will meet and sleep in the youth cabins located behind the main buildings. Please make sure your teen has his/her own toiletries along. Bedding and towels will be provided by the center.

Those with children should have received an email regarding the photos. As a reminder, the Ojai team has asked for digital pictures of your kids so the children in their church have the opportunity to get to know them, pray for them and be involved with the mission. Please send a digital picture of your kids, together or separately, to rpetropulos@sbcglobal.net with a brief note telling their ages, grades, hobbies, and where they live. Nothing complicated, just a short paragraph about them will do.

HOUSING

If you have been paying into the conference pool your housing costs are covered from Tuesday evening, August 12 through Monday morning, August 18. Anyone staying before or after those dates needs to personally contact the center at ks@sbt-beatenberg.ch. Pay directly at the front desk upon your departure if you have not paid into the pool or if you are staying extra days. You may pay with cash (Swiss francs), Visa or Mastercard, NOT American Express. The website for price details is www.bibelschule.ch.

SPECIAL DIETS

If you require a special diet, please contact me immediately at .

REMINDERS

If you would like to join the prayer team for our conference let me know. You´ll receive monthly prayer requests.

Have a great summer and we´ll see you soon in Switzerland!

Sue Ashcraft
Conference Coordinator

If you have a google account, you can mark your favorite places on the map.

Hello!

Welcome to the first 2008 Avant Europe Conference letter. We are looking forward to another special week in beautiful Switzerland and hope you find this information helpful as you plan ahead to August. We will enjoy a week filled with great Bible teaching, worship and lots of time for food, fun and fellowship.

THEME

This year´s theme is "Unlocking Growth" and will be the focus of the conference.

LOCATION AND DATES

We will be meeting at the Beatenburg Bible School in Beatenberg, Switzerland. Their website is www.bibelschule.ch. Beatenberg is near Interlachen and is served by the airports in Geneva, Basel and Zurich. For information on public transport in Switzerland and other helpful information, visit www.myswitzerland.com, www.lonelyplanet.com.

August 12 - 18, 2008 are the dates of the conference. You will find us at the registration table (in the main building closest to the road) between 4pm and 6pm on Tuesday, August 12. Our conference will end after breakfast on Monday, August 18. For some who may be considering catching early flights on the 18th, please do not plan to leave early Sunday evening. While there are exceptions, it is important that we begin and finish together. If you would like to stay the night on Monday, August 18 at the conference center, please contact Kathrine Schneiter directly at gaestehaus@bibelschule.com.

PRAYER TEAM

Much prayer is needed to organize and carry out a conference like this. We want to form a prayer team who will take some time in these next months to join in praying for specific needs and requests for the conference. Each month the team will receive requests by email. If you want to be a part of this team, please email me at .

CHILDREN

We are delighted to have a fine group of adults from Ojai, California returning to minister to our children and teens. They do an exceptional job and your children will love being with them. This year the teens will meet AND sleep in the cabins located behind the main buildings but will join us for meals. Ojai staff will serve as "cabin counselors" to ensure a safe and fun time for your teens. We will send more details about this later.

SPEAKER AND MUSIC

Our conference speaker this year is Charles Price. He has been the Senior Pastor of The Peoples Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, since September 2001, with a weekly congregation of 3500 people. He will be joined by his wife, Hilary. www.thepeopleschurch.ca,

It is our pleasure to welcome back Mike and Loralee Hill from Black Forest Academy in Germany as our worship leaders. You will be blessed by their obvious love for the Lord and will appreciate their God-given talents.

WEBSITE

Thanks to Tim Becker for putting together our conference website. It features the schedule, a map, contact information and photos from the 2006 conference. It also includes a list of things to bring and information to help you choose where you would like to spend your afternoon off. Thanks for your patience as the website is updated. http\\europe.avmi.org

If you have any questions concerning the program or logistics, please feel free to contact me at . Bob Ehmann, our Regional Director is also available to help out. You can call him on Skype under the name efdbob. Look for lots of information in these coming months.

Serving with Joy,
Sue Ashcraft
Conference Coordinator