ICF Zurich Newsletter No. 1/2012

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HEARTBEAT FROM LEO AND SUSANNA BIGGER

Dear ICF

Full of joy and with deepest gratitude in your hearts, we celebrated the first Celebrations in the Güterbahnhof (freight yard). The new location is awesome, the atmosphere unique and because of the special architecture there is more a sense of closeness than in the Maag hall.

We are so thankful for all the help, whether it was a little or a lot, invested for the renovation and relocation of ICF Zurich to the Güterbahnhof. Be it by doing hands-on work at the construction site, taking apart the infrastructure in the Maag, taking care of the physical well-being of countless workers, keeping the spirits high – many of you gave all you had, sacrificed your free time, worked overtime … Only thanks to this tireless effort of staff members, experts, countless volunteers and God’s help was it possible to punctually open our new premises on 8^th January 2012. We also want to thank you for all your prayers!

Now we would like to invite you to a ConneXXion on 30^th January 2012! On this evening we are going to look back on 2011, give you an overview of 2012, share our vision with you, pray together and worship. We look forward to seeing you and your small groups in our new Celebration Hall!

With the Elijah series we entered into this new year and into the Güterbahnhof; it’s motto is “Take A Stand”. We wish for you that in 2012 you will be able to raise your voice for Jesus! Have a wonderful and blessed year!

Leo and Susanna Bigger

NUMBER OF THE MONTH

14’000

This month, a figure is particularly prominent and there is nothing comparable to it. An impressive 14,000 hours of volunteer work was invested for the renovation of the Güterbahnhof in just 11 weeks. We thank you 14,000 times!

At the same time – believe it or not – 14,000 m of cable were installed!

The numbers associated with the renovation all move in the superlative – not surprising as our great God is behind this all, performing miracle after miracle.

CURRENT SERIES

ELIJAH –Elijah’s life

Elijah was a man with a great passion for God and a deep longing for a better future, but also a human being with strengths and weaknesses, successes and setbacks, with fears and doubts.

In the series "ELIJAH", we want to learn how we can live our faith enthusiastically and inspiringly despite opposition, setbacks, fear or doubt. Let's take a stand!

Dates

29^th January 2012: EliJaH – Walk the Talk!

5^th February 2012: EliJaH – Never Give up!

12^th February 2012: EliJaH – Change Tomorrow Today!

19^th February 2012: EliJaH – Guest speaker Matthias Bölsterli

ICF ZURICH NEWS

NEXT STOP: GÜTERBAHNHOF! (FREIGHT YARD)

On the 8^th, no, on the 6^th of January 2012 the time had come: with about 250 attendees the Zwänzger ushered in the new ICF-era in the Güterbahnhof! And that as painter teams were still finishing painting the walls around the Arena. On Sunday about another 3000 people showed up to see our new “home” and to put it into operation. Everything went – as if by a miracle – like clockwork. The joy and enthusiasm about our new location could be felt and heard everywhere, from young and old. Our thanks go out to the countless people who invested all they could for hours, days, weeks to make the old Güterbahnhof shine anew in record time. There is still some fine work which needs to be done, but we are confident that this will be shipshape for our forthcoming ConneXXion on 30^th January 2012 (www.icf.ch/events/alle-events.html) so that we can inaugurate our new home.

(English translation will be available at the ConneXXion!)

COMMUNITY

START OF ICF MEN’S MINISTRY

Dear Men!

The time has finally come! The long awaited Men’s Ministry has been launched. You can already look forward to great fellowship, cool events and lots of challenges. For the first evening we have invited the guest speaker Peter (Pesche) Egger. For 511 days he went around the world on foot and during this time he experienced God in many different ways. Be inspired by this adventure and enjoy a variety of finger food at “Desperado” in Höngg.

Afterwards there is the possibility of having dinner there, but you can choose if you want to stay or not.

Date: Saturday, 10^th March 2012, 4 – 6.30 pm
Place: Restaurant Desperado, Limmattalstrasse 215, 8049 Zurich (Höngg).
Price: CHF 30.– per person

Registration: registration form

Further events which are exclusively for men can be found on the ICF website: www.icf.ch/community/men.html

GENX SNOWCAMP 2012

For singles and couples as of 18 years
Saturday, 11^th to Saturday, 18^th February 2012

Saas Grund (VS) – Proud four thousand meters, glacier to grasp, clear blue sky: this is the Saastal with its famous villages Saas-Grund, Saas-Fee and Saas-Almagell. Snowboarding, skiing and sleighing will naturally be on the programme. But also tanking some sun on the deck chairs in front of the mountain restaurants, discovering beautifully snowy mountains and going out for a drink in the village in the evenings belong to our mountain holiday in Saas-Grund/Saas-Fee.

Daily sports, added with cool fellowship at parties, inputs, celebrations, small groups, experiencing God, getting to know new people – this are all things you can expect in our snow camp.

Register today under: www.icf.ch/events/camps/genx-snowcamp-2012.html

ICF ADVENTURE TRIP ISRAEL 2012

22^nd April 2012 – 6^th May 2012

For the third time we are travelling to Israel as an ICF-church. Together with our Israeli tour guide we will discover this historic country and look forward to having you join us. Our trip is suitable for all ages. It offers comfort and a balanced programme with fun, tourism, travelling, swimming, relaxing, experiencing God and fellowship.

The Middle East, especially Israel, is more than worth the journey. Whoever was there once, always wants to go back. The paths of the past influence this country – history is the present here. Biblical and historical places and encounters suddenly become alive. A trip to Israel also means vibrant, historical cities, wonderful beaches, the deepest point on earth at the Dead See and much more.

We look forward to your registration under: www.icf.ch/events/camps/icf-israel-reise-2012.html

EX-MUSLIM COMMUNITY

It is wonderful to see how God meets Muslims in a special way and how they open their hearts for Jesus. To be able to learn more about Jesus they often turn to a church where they can have their many questions answered. It is anything but easy to break away from Islam and go to church. In our ex-Muslim community we have the opportunity of being there for them and accompanying them on their path.

Jesus commanded us to “love our neighbours as ourselves”. How can we learn more about Muslims and the way they think and how can we talk to them about Jesus? For this ICF offers a course called “Islam & Jesus”. (www.icf.ch/kurse/islam-jesus.html)

Here we deal with questions on Islam and get to know some ex-Muslims in our church.

To build relationships with Muslims, we regularly visit a mosque. Many ex-Muslims from various countries have found a small group and a home in ICF.

Thomas Bosshard

ICF College

ICF COLLEGE NEWS

The new College semester will begin on 2^nd March 2012 with over 70 students and the following subjects:

• College “Basic” every Friday (part-time variety)
• Full Time College “Pastors & Leaders” every Wednesday
• Full Time College “Worship & Arts” every Wednesday
• Elective subject “Church Planting” every Tuesday afternoon

If you would like to have a look at the College, send us an email to arrange a date: college@icf.ch.

The next possible dates to start the College are:

Autumn/winter semester: 24/8/2012 – 8/2/2013

Closing date of registration: 30/6/2012

If you are interested in receiving the separate College newsletter, subscribe here: www.icf-movement.org/college/newsletter.html

MOVEMENT

ICF STUTTGART IS DEVELOPING WELL

We are still in a small location, “THE PARIS”, and as of mid-January we will be holding three Celebrations per Sunday. The year 2012 is all about the Celebration tour in March where we will be holding Celebrations in four cities. After that we will launch an Alpha campaign in these cities to reach people who are searching God. In April we are going to enjoy a snow camp with our neighbouring ICFs: Karlsruhe and Reutlingen.

Dan Schmid, senior pastor ICF Stuttgart

ACTS

CHRISTMAS PRESENT CAMPAIGN

Thank you so much for all the presents you donated!

We and other charities collected presents for the Christmas present campaign (www.weihnachtspaeckli.ch/typo/index.php?id=53). All over Switzerland 86,400 presents were donated!

These were transported to Eastern Europe on 26 trucks and distributed to people in need in the Ukraine, Moldova and other countries. Swiss charity workers went to children in homes, schools and hospitals, to families, poor pensioners and people with illnesses and disabilities. The presents have become a sign of solidarity and appreciation. We are happy that we as ICF could contribute to this special Christmas joy!

NEW LOCATION FOR THE CHINDERINSLE

The day care centre “Chinderinsle” has a new facility! This is on Hohlstrasse 236 which is very near to the “Güterbahnhof”, the new home of ICF Zurich and the ACTS foundation. This former school house has two rooms which are suitable for eating, playing and various group activities, a kitchen and a wonderful playground to let go of energy. We are thankful that the relocation and renovations progressed so swiftly and that the Kita could already be up and running in the new year.

To note: the lovingly decorated rooms can be visited by interested parents on Saturday, 11^th February 2012 from 3 to 5 pm. On this “open day” the facility will be open to visitors, the concept of the Kita will be presented and their questions will be answered.

ICF WINTERTHUR

God helps – even if a miracle is needed!

We want to share a testimony which a young woman from our church told us:

“Last week I had a very important test which I had already failed twice. This time I passed! And that more than just well! I had been so afraid and I actually had been certain that I wouldn’t succeed for the third time. But God heard my prayers and gave me an extremely good result! Hallelujah! And since we are talking about this: God performs miracle in your and my life. This should be an encouragement for all of us!”

Gloria and Dominik Laim

ICF RAPPERSWIL

“The Lord bless you and keep you.” (Numbers 6:24)

This is God’s wonderful promise to us, that this year will be the year of fruit! We don’t only want to focus on the fruit, but also on digging our roots deeper into God.

We were already blessed at the beginning of this new year through the expansion of our staff by Simona Naegeli. Simona has been a part of ICF Rapperswil since its foundation on 7/7/07 and through her loyalty, passion for worship and her extraordinary vocal talent she has helped our church grow. Simona is employed to 50% in the area of Worship & Arts and in addition to the entire area of music she will also be in charge of dance, theatre and decoration. We look forward to an exciting, adventurous and eventful year with our God and His church!

Gisi and Maese Hager

ICF ZÜRCHER OBERLAND

Winning people for Jesus

“How did you actually find your faith in Jesus? Did your parents bring you up in the Christian faith like you are doing with your children?” These are the questions our neighbours recently asked us. We could then tell them our story with Jesus and a fascinating conversation about faith resulted. With this little incident we want to motivate you and ourselves to persevere with our relatives, friends and acquaintances who don’t yet know Jesus personally. Let’s deliberately cultivate relationships, invite our friends to Celebrations and events and pray for our VIPs. It is our goal that people in the Zurcher Oberland can build a personal relationship with Jesus. You are the key person in this process! We have started this new year with a motivation and the expectation that people will find their faith through US.

Ursula and Jani Schmitter

ICF Brugg

Vision Night on 28th February 2012

This year we as ICF Zurich want to found a further location. This time going to the west, into the canton of Aargau. It is our goal that people in and around Brugg get to know Jesus and find a home in our church. We would like to invite you to the Vision Night with Leo Bigger and band on 28^th February 2012 at 8 pm in the cultural club Dampfschiff in Brugg. Map: www.dampfschiffbrugg.ch/site/index.cfm?id_art=3003&actMenuItemID=1939&vsprache/de/Situationsplan.cfm

Do you live in this area and is your heart beating for people who don’t know Jesus yet? Would you like to contribute in founding a new location? If you have questions about the new location and you would like to be a part of the starter team, then get in touch with us at jan-micha.schmitter@icf.ch. You can also find more information at www.facebook.com/icfbrugg

Jani Schmitter

BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS FOR DONATIONS

ICF Zurich:
Raiffeisenbank Zurich, 8001 Zurich
Clearing number: 81487
Account number: 89622.47
IBAN: CH85 8148 7000 0089 6224 7
SWIFT-BIC: RAIFCH22
Paid to: ICF Zurich, Hohlstrasse 150, 8004 Zurich

ICF Rapperswil:
Raiffeisenbank Zurich, 8001 Zurich
Clearing number: 81487
Account number: 89622.50
IBAN: CH04 8148 7000 0089 6225 0
SWIFT-BIC: RAIFCH22
Paid to: ICF Zurich, Rapperswil, Hohlstrasse 150, 8004 Zurich

ICF Winterthur:
Raiffeisenbank Zurich, 8001 Zurich
Clearing number: 81487
Account number: 89622.24
IBAN: CH27 8148 7000 0089 6222 4
SWIFT-BIC: RAIFCH22
Paid to: ICF Zurich, Winterthur, Hohlstrasse 150, 8004 Zurich

ICF Zürcher Oberland:
Raiffeisenbank Zurich, 8001 Zurich
Clearing number: 81487
Account number: 89622.43
IBAN: CH96 8148 7000 0089 6224 3
SWIFT-BIC: RAIFCH22
Paid to: ICF Zurich, Züri Oberland, Hohlstrasse 150, 8004 Zurich

ACTS:
Raiffeisenbank Zurich, 8001 Zurich
Clearing number: 81487
Account number: 96475.41
IBAN: CH91 8148 7000 0096 4754 1
SWIFT-BIC: RAIFCH22
Paid to: ACTS Stiftung, c/o ICF Zurich, Hohlstrasse 150, 8004 Zurich