You can be part of Sharon's ministry this Fall

Please pray as Sharon flies early September from JFK to Vienna. She leads a women's group in St. Poelten, Lower Austria, then she is doing business consulting with the Schaffers. She has a women's Bible study in Baden & one in Traisen.

On the way to visit Maria Schaffer's family, they will minister in a home fellowship. After their return, Sharon will be in St. Poelten again & Baden.

Later in the month, she flies to England & takes the train to Scunthorpe. The ministry schedule in England will include teaching on Sundays as well as Bible Studies during the week. The Fellowship plans an outreach meeting and will provide a meal and evangelsitic message for many needy people in the town. We have been praying for these outreaches over the past months and Sharon looks forward to being a a part of this one. She is praying to be prepared for whatever doors the Lord may open.

• PLEASE PRAY FOR RESILIENCE AND SPIRITUAL INSIGHT.
• Already the Lord has been giving her many things to share that have been developing over the last few months. She is relying on Him to help her put it all into order & help her present it.
• These preparations on top of full-time work can be tiring. We thank you for your prayer support.
• Pray for safety & health. Pray the Lord gives her just the right words for the people & their needs. She wants to fit into the Lord's agenda and what He is doing.
• The Lord is using these long-standing connections to let His life flow from believer to believer & to seekers as well.
  

Bekka Van Horn's receives Master's degree

May 2006 marked the pinnacle of Bekka's academic career.

She received the Master's degree in English

from Southern Connecticut State University.

She wants to help young people overcome difficulties in their lives & as her research project she found out reasons why high school graduates do not do well in college writing. Because of her hard work & excellent recommendations from the faculty, she was chosen by Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut, to be the Writing Specialist for the inauguration of Thames Academy, designed to help a group 0f 30 students bridge the gap from high school to college. She will be able to use all she has learned & be stretched herself, trying to help these young people with disabilities.

Europe Ministry Trip September-October 2006

By staying in touch with the Schaffer family (Gerhard, Maria & Early), Sharon has not only been able to bless them in their needs, but has been given opportunity to share in a number of women's groups, Bible studies & home fellowships. They are spread from the Danube valley of Lower Austria to the mountains of Styria.

Last Summer, our friend Heidi, originally from Germany, was able to come along to minister as well.

The Eilen family was part of our church in Austria until 1995. They have had some ups & downs, but continue to trust the Lord. Their son, Sebastian, had the privilege of attending Gordon College, a Christian institution in Massachusetts. We got to be there for his graduation.

Sebastian is back in Austria with his family. He would like to be a missionary businessman to China eventually, as God provides. He caught the vision studying Chinese & spending a semester in China. Right now he waiting to do his alternative military service.

The Eilen family is another contact we still treasure from our time in Austria. Sharon looks forward to catching up & ministering to them while she is there.

Martin & Sharon Van Horn

Called originally to the Connecticut Shoreline in 1976 to plant a Gospel-preaching church in Madison, we have been back since 1995, after 14 years in Austria, Europe, doing mission work. Life Connections has been teaching & encouraging people in Connecticut & Europe since 2001.

We have kept up connections to friends in England & Austria, traveling annually to preach, teach & counsel as they have invited us.



In the Summer of 2005, our daughter Rebekka accompanied Sharon to Scunthorpe, England where the Longstaffs have a powerful outreach in worship, deliverance & mercy. We know of no one better to pray God for a blessing on Bekka & her own ministry.



From Scunthorpe, Sharon was invited across the River Humber to New Life Church and The Vineyard Church in Kingston upon Hull. Many women responded to the Inner & Outer Beauty Outreach that Sharon had developed while we were still working in Austria.



Our son, Joel, took time off from his web programming job near Washington, DC, to visit his old friends, David & Audrey Longstaff & their daughter, Helen and her family. He & Bekka grew up enjoying their love & great cooking.